The Doll Maker
by Arrixam
Summary: Slowly slipping into madness like his father, spending days and nights endlessly crafting his armies, facing forces not meant to be seen by mortal men, he was called upon by one most desperate of his abilities. Now in a new world, will this be for the better for Tristain? Or will it implode on itself? Contains OC Archmage/Sorcerer
1. King Artemis

**Quick message from the author!**

Yet another "Louise summons something different" with, guess what, another "summoned Original Character". This song and dance has been shown a great number of times. I don't plan on milking anything saying mine will be better because "X-Reason This" and "X-Reason That". My story is just a story to share. Whether it is liked or not is up to the viewer.

This story IS mostly for my sake. I love Familiar of Zero and wanted to write a story about it. Unfortunately I never found the right character. I don't even think I did with this one. Honestly, I chose this person out of sheer chance. By throwing darts. I had been so unsure which of my characters to use as each of them could have been as useless as a mundane individual (worse than Saito, and that's saying something) to someone who could, literally, burn the entire continent of Halkegenia to the ground. That is to say, the character I chose is... Above Average, I would have to say in regards to the scale I use in my stories.

I don't plan on doing a copy and paste of the novels or anime. Most of the key events will be in, but I plan on changing a few things here and there as I incorporate some of my story lore into the mix without changing any of the laws of the universe set in Familiar of Zero. It's mostly a story of what this character will change by him just being there. If you do not understand any of the lore, it's quite intended. You're not supposed to until the character explains certain things. And even then, certain other things will be unexplained as they are far too different between the logic of FoZ and my stories.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you enjoy the show.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**I am a King  
**

I wasn't so sure what to make of this. Here I am working on another project— a project in which my father never could finish either due to running into a wall or from the distractions that was his madness— when all of a sudden I felt a foreign wavelength infiltrate my workshop. It should have been impossible. The walls were lined with nearly every metal off the periodic table and then some my father, the Priest, and Roix Armadius synthesized. Nothing save for some of the more potent Primordial Works such as the Dra'cueri Queen's _Authority of the World _in which would have her completely rewrite the intended purpose of each metal as the World perceives it could pierce through these walls.

Or an Original Work. But _nothing _can block something as incomprehensible as that, with the exception of that which should not exist to begin with— Works from the Abyss.

My eyes shifted from the mundane plane into the String World. I watched as this foreign energy signature did not actually invade my workshop, did not _touch _anything that should have repelled it, and I was found completely intrigued as the strings in which made up _everything _let this signature pass by. If anything, this otherworldly program was being welcomed by the World.

Therefore, this was not an abomination of the Abyss. Nor was this an invasion of a Defiant Work such as Sorcery or a Miracle. If the World was welcoming it, then this signature must belong to someone of the Primordial or Original rank. I had already crossed out if this could be a sort of Dream Work, but that would require permission or influence of the Ruler of the World. With the Rulers long dead before the Age of the Kings, it had to belong to someone of Primordial or Original rank.

The conclusion frightened me. The only Primordial Being I knew of was the Dra'cueri Queen, and she and her people were servants to the Storm King. She would never be able to slip something like this through P'Zylor's attention. The other Primordial Beings I could think of would be the Priest and Roix Armadius. The former was a Guardian and was Traveling worlds in his duties and the latter was said to be lost somewhere in the Abyss.

So therefore, the conclusion must mean someone of Original rank must be calling for me. I couldn't help but shiver.

The energy source descended from its Traveling frequency to manifest inside my workshop. It appeared in a pool of… planetary life energy. Relieved that this wasn't an Original Work after all, I still couldn't help but frown. This was the work of someone from another world at the rank of Primordial. My world is considered [Dead] and cannot produce any more resources. Worse, even with my eyes I could not pick up the properties of this green reflection. To best of my description, this was a floating green mirror composed of raw planetary life-force of a foreign world.

I had thought about calling Alyse or Reaper from their chambers. But they were more than likely asleep at this hour. Besides, whatever they knew I would have known. Even if they now had their own individualities, they were both members of their respective families. Whatever they knew, the Houses of Alyse and Craven knew; and whatever those Houses knew, I knew.

So no matter what Jinni I would ask for, the best they could do was give me a second opinion or echo the thoughts I've already come to. It was times like this I understood why and how my father went insane.

In the end, the best I could do was stare at the glowing mirror. I wouldn't dare touch it. Not only does it have a foreign signature that could be completely incompatible with mine— and thus rip me apart faster than I could regenerate— but I did not know for what intended purpose it was here for. Was it a one-way mirror in which whoever sent it was watching me? Was it a trap? Was it to relay a message of some kind?

My questions were answered when a coil of the green substance lashed out at me. Immediately my Spirit flared through my veins as I weaved a counter-spell through my fingertips. My eyes entered the String World as I altered the weaves to match the frequency of the coil to the best of my abilities with the lone second I had. The coil was _fast._

Matching the frequency, a weave of 'push' was made to repel the coil as I gathered distance. However, my spell was avoided as the coil swerved as though it were alive and latched onto my wrist before my feet could touch the ground. My body reacted as I wove a 'cut' spell to sever the binding.

Nothing. My spell just phased through.

Alarms went off in my head as my mind raced through my options. I activated the weaves set up within the confines of this castle to go off in the chance someone spotted an intruder who had been able to sneak past the wards. Such as this moment. Activity came alive in the castle as I sensed the Djinn Sentinels phasing through walls to reach me that much faster. And I felt the girls wake up and rushing to my position in haste.

I just needed to buy time.

The ground came alive as I commanded it to latch onto me the same way this intruding signature was. Still, the mirror fought and tried to pull me harder, but, strangely, just enough to where my skin didn't come apart. As though sensing its failure, more coils sprung from its surface and attached around each of my limbs and body.

My Spirit flared as I used propulsion weaves to push myself away from it as much as possible. But it seemed futile as even with the support of the castle materials and my own spells, the mirror was successfully pulling me in closer.

To the point where my fingertips just touched the surface.

The mirror spread like a gelatinous blob to encase me. The workshop door was blown open as Sentinels charged in. The eight-foot-tall white knights already knew nothing in their arsenal would be able to remove me and so they resorted to the more barbaric methods of attacking the main source with their weapons. Some attempted to grab onto me but found they could not get a hold of me as the green liquid repelled them.

"Artemis!" Reaper was the first of the girls to arrive. With her anti-magic attire of Roix Armadius, the tried to reach for me. There was a sound of evaporation as her gloved hands easily slid through the green substance.

The mirror didn't seem to like this and lashed out at her. A swipe of one of its coils caught her at the abdomen and forced her away from me.

Before she could recover and spring back, I was being swept away into the core of the mirror. It was a portal!

"Artemis!" roared Reaper in anger as she kicked off the ground with her Craven magic amplifying her abilities.

But she couldn't reach me. Darkness had engulfed me.

*Scene*

Traveling was not uncommon to me. I had Traveled from Ilyvander to Earth a number of times to visit my friends back home. Lolifor had enjoyed my visits whenever he wasn't busy running his chain of maid cafés. My half-sister Iris sure enjoyed my company with her new husband— one of my father's Djinn turned human from the Godking's Rite. However, Breaker remained as reclusive as always and continued to call me 'Virgin Boy' no matter how many years went by. And then it would start a lover's spat with Iris.

Momo and her Jinni partner, Judge Quinn, always found the free time to see me whenever I was visiting Earth. Momo would continue to flirt with me, especially if I brought one of the girls with me. And in those moments when Momo was having a catfight with one of the girls, I would sit down with Judge Quinn and ask for his advice. He was one of the first creations of my father and had served him since the beginning of the kingdom. Most of the time Quinn would tell me to figure it out on my own as he was retired, but on more dire matters he would give a decent opinion.

My point, Traveling is frequent for me. Normally, it's a highly illegal act. Worlds are not meant to mix and are supposed to run on their natural course. However, there are certain exceptions to this unofficial rule. Guardians can Travel because they go wherever a world is about to be consumed by the spreading of the Abyss, and therefore ending the world before its plotted time. Then there are worlds that are desperate enough or have hit a wall in their progress and require outside sources for their growth. Basically, Traveling was allowed most of the time if it meant veering out of the path of a world's demise.

I wasn't particularly allowed to Travel. However, I was looked at in the other direction because of my background. My father had illegally Traveled when he stumbled upon Earth and had laid my mother, having me. I was a citizen of Earth and therefore had the right to stay there. However, I was the rightful heir to what my father left back in the [Dead] world called Ilyvander.

So, in short, so long as I kept up the mantle, I could Travel between Earth and Ilyvander whenever I wanted. Only those two worlds, though.

It came at a surprise when I felt this third signature fast approaching. Rather, I was approaching it. I had grown so use to the frequencies of Ilyvander and Earth that I hardly noticed their differences anymore. But as I was exiting out the tunnel of darkness, I immediately knew I was coming to another world.

The first thing I took note of when breaking through the planet's surface was the sun. My eyes widened at the glowing orb in the sky as my Spirit was being recharged at a hyper rate. My skin almost glowed as it greedily took in its warmth. This was no fake sun made from some forbidden magic, a god claiming to be a representation of the sun, or from heretic science such as our Sun Spheres. No, this was a real sun hundreds of thousands of light-years away from the planet.

Earth had the same thing. But the Earth I was from had a Ruler in which generated an emulation of the sun he remembered. The Earth I was from was a [Fake] world made out of Dream Works by its Ruler.

Ilyvander was a [True] world. Thanks to the event of the Sun King, all [True] worlds in every plane, _everywhere, _no longer had a sun. A near infinite amount of worlds had lost its sun and had, almost just as much, lost its life. Only worlds with rich Defiant Works of Phenomena or Evolution, Primordial Beings with potent _Authority of the World_ Works, and worlds who were already [Fake] to begin with had survived.

Ilyvander had survived because of the Sun Spheres and because of the tenacity of its Kings. But, that is to say, humanity no longer existed in that world. Because I was born on Earth, I was the only human on Ilyvander.

If this world I was entering had a sun just like the one back on Earth, it meant it was just as [Fake] as any other. And if that were so, then it meant it had its own Ruler in which was projecting the image of his or her choosing onto the canvas. What it meant in the end was I, a complete outsider, was entering the den of someone who, literally, ruled the entire world.

I, a mediocre sorcerer, was entering the realm of a god.

This shock was so immense it took me a while to register what else was happening to me. Wind was blasting my entire body and I felt light as a feather at the same time. Well, no figure. I _was _falling from insurmountable heights at an alarming pace and picking up speed.

Of all the Gifts the Dra'cueri Queen could have given me, she couldn't have given me the Gift of Flight? Seriously? No! She had to give me the Gift of Craft!

I'm not saying I couldn't fly if I applied enough patterns into my weaving. I'm just complaining that I have to input so many commands into my spell in order to fly when all I would have to do is _think _if I had the Gift of Flight.

But at the level of speed I was falling and with how much time I had wasted panicking over the existence of the sun, I didn't have the time to weave something as intricate as flight. With only a few seconds left before impact, the best I could do was weave a barrier in which absorbed inertia while reinforcing my body with both Spirit and Craven magic.

I bent my knees and forced my body to relax. The impact forced me onto my back even with the precautions I took.

"Argh!" I groaned and then coughed as the dirt I kicked up from my landing swept into my mouth. I would like to say a normal person would splatter into a mesh of fleshy gunk if they were in my place. Even some of the more sturdy Djinn would have cracked and died upon impact. But even with the defenses I put up, I still crashed hard enough to break a few bones.

Automatically my Spirit was repairing these damages. Contrary to popular belief, healing is not relieving. Healing is just as painful as it is getting the wound. It's only when the healing is done is it relieving.

It was a few seconds before I could move. Sitting up forced me to cough more, which made me groan a little more as my body was still aching despite being fit enough to move. But my Spirit was taking care of that. Sick of this dirt, I wove a small ventilation ward over my face. It probably would have been better if I blew away the cloud, but, again, that would take up more weaves than I should appropriate. An ethereal mask that let me see and breathe from five commands was much better than making a gust to blow away this cloud from twenty-two commands.

I stood and started to walk out of the crater my body dug itself, rolling my shoulders and popping joints as I also stretched my sore muscles. Magically healing was not as simple and convenient as people thought it was. That nonsense was only found in fantasy novels.

Um… and… well, speaking of fantasy novels…

I blinked. They blinked. I had found myself in the middle of a large open lawn with a crowd of teenagers in the background. Teenagers with every shade of hair-color of the rainbow at that. In front of me was a flabbergasted pink-haired child. And to the side, perhaps the one in charge of them all, was an older man with balding hair, a staff, and dressed in a long robe. The teenagers, however, were dressed in private school uniforms of white tops, black pants or skirts, and cloaks over their shoulders.

Oh. And let's not forget the series of animals around each of these… students, I assumed they were. Some of them ranged from birds, to snakes, to cats, to dogs, to even a giant mole. However, there were… _others. _I caught sight of a large eyeball with batwings that was floating (seeing as its wings were not flapping to support its suspension), then there was the large reptilian nearly the size of a komodo dragon with its tail on _fire_, and last there was the blue-scaled _dragon _twice the size of a large horse.

I swiped my face, removing and evaporating the invisible mask as though it were made of mist.

One of the students pointed at me, said something in French (but not French, infuriatingly enough) and caused the rest of the crowd to join in his laughter.

The pink one near me flushed in anger, stamped her foot down like the child she was, and argued back at the crowd. Her attention went to the man with the staff as she began demanding something of him. The man shook his head and explained his refusal.

Alas, I could not understand what they were saying. They were speaking French, yes, but at the same time they weren't. To best describe it, they were speaking in the French vocabulary but were instead using some other language as their base for grammar. I had been able to pick up a few words such as 'familiar' and 'Zero' but couldn't make anything by them.

For example, instead of saying 'Hello, my name is Artemis,' they were saying 'Artemis my hello name be'. Or at least that's what I _think _would be the best way to describe it. As they were expressing the more intricate sentences, the subject was completely blended in with the sentence to make heads and tails of their meaning.

I could, however, understand something. Familiar Ritual, that was what the man had said. My eyes traced the mocking students and at the animals and beasts strangely close to them. In the String World, I could see there was a sort of tie between one student and one animal, a 'familiar'. I had heard of familiars from fantasy novels, but there had been nothing about them in the archives of any Djinn family or even in the personal study of my father.

From what I could guess, a familiar was a sort of summoned or created creature in which would serve the magician in question. That was where my mind linked another theory. Though there were no mention of 'familiars' in the archives, there were plenty of mentions of Heroes, Champions, and Apprentices from before the Age of Kings. In that era, magicians would have used a certain summoning ritual in order to summon a being from another realm— be it the lost past or from another world altogether— in order to assist them in what duty was needed.

I was aware of a few such historic events of Ilyvander magicians. One in particular came to mind…

"Pinky?" I asked, interrupting the little magician from her tantrum.

Her head snapped at me with a puzzled look. The crowd was silent for a moment. For a moment. It didn't take them much to start in their uproar of laughter once more.

The magician in question flushed a deeper red and muttered something at me angrily.

I asked instead, "Rose li Red?"

More incoherent ramblings were the response.

I sighed and scratched my temple. So this was truly a completely different world. I had thought that, maybe, just maybe, I had been sent to the past before the Age of Kings. To the time in which the sun had never died out. A small part in my heart had hoped so— so that I may change things in which the Sun King never rose to power. But, I already knew the truth. There was no magic, no technology, no _authority _strong enough to turn back the clock enough to replay a time before the Sun King.

Because the Sun King wielded Original rank. _Nothing _comes before that.

Simply, I had thought she had been the magician who had summoned Sir Rolan and lived and also the same magician who summoned my father into Ilyvander some years later. She was known as Rose li Red and was nicknamed Pinky by Sir Rolan because of her vibrant pink hair and child-like stature. So I had thought— hoped, more like— this was the same girl.

Before I knew it, the pink magician gave me a command with one word. Kneel. I looked down at her and realized that I did tower over her nearly twice her height. She was a child and I was somewhat of a grown man with another growth spurt on its way. Even amongst my peers I was a giant at six and a half feet tall. My father was six-feet-even and my mother shorter than him. I've no idea where my height comes from.

And so, I took a knee so that I may be face-to-face with her. She had something important to say to me and even if I couldn't understand her, I would at least try to. Perhaps from what she had to say I could figure out what my role was here.

I had no intention of being a familiar. The only exception would be if I did have that open window to stop the Sun King. Any other purpose other than that did not sit well with me. I had heard many stories about Sir Rolan when he was summoned as a Champion. He had a dark record of killing most of his summoners. He had told me he accepted the four out of thirty-seven summoners because those four had a good enough reason for him to accept them. The other thirty-three he killed almost immediately to break the contract because he found those reasons to be ludicrous and pointless.

I'll admit summoning Sir Rolan, someone with the power to burn an entire civilization to near-extinction, just to help the summoner clean a barn is a little… silly. But I don't think it would warrant someone's death for wasting a few short minutes.

But it was without a doubt I was here because of this magician. I'll not kill her— good God no. But maybe I could discuss with her my reasons for being here and see if there was a way for me to return home.

She closed her eyes, lifted her wand, and muttered something. Not necessarily an incantation but rather a plea of some sort. Following I heard, "Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière…" and then more obscure Not-French grammar.

So her name was Louise. She definitely wasn't the Archmage Rose li Red who summoned my father as her Champion. That, or she was swearing up a storm and blaming some figurehead named Louise. I couldn't tell.

But then she went and kissed me. It was just a small peck on the lips, nothing fancy and nothing meaningful. But the gesture of having me lock lips with someone so _young _forced me back onto my feet and stepping away. She, however, had her head bowed and blushing with her fingers touching the tips of her lips with lingering feelings.

Me, on the other hand, I was panicking. One, that pedophile Lolifor will _never _let this down if he ever found out someone as young as Possibly-Louise kissed me. Two, Alyse will kill me if she ever found out if there was so much of a _chance _of another girl entering my so-called harem. I'm not talking about some comedy-sketch scene where she chases me down while hailing her magic bricks at me. I mean she will, literally, _kill _me. And three…

I blanched. I don't want to know what Reaper will do…

My thoughts were put on hold when I felt a foreign frequency invade my core. Spirit pulsed from my vorpal gland to try to remove the infiltrating virus. But it was futile as even photosynthesized magic nutrients could not so much as touch the frequency.

My back of my left hand was _burning. _The sound of sizzling fat and smell of burning flesh forced my body into overdrive. Spirit pulsed to nullify the pain, to begin the healing process, and to try to remove the problem. Only the pain was dulled down as a series of runes _etched _deep into the back of my hand.

The wings that marked my Gift of Craft came alive as the tattoos moved with the runes, as though giving it enough space for them both to fit into the back of my hand.

I realized I was panting. I had to scan my body in order to see why. Upon some sort of activation by the magician via the kiss, this foreign magic had used my own energies to fuel its branding. Not only that, but it had used my own energies to even repel the energies I sent to destroy it. Therefore, I had spent three times the Spirit and stamina, burning my body nearly dry in the process.

The energy consumption had been more than enough to make me winded. I could feel my body drinking in the light of the sun to recharge and I thought about removing my shirt to increase the flow. But I wasn't in a critical state and so a simple breathing exercise would suffice.

I took note the man with the staff was jotting down the formation of the runes on my hand with a piece of charcoal and a pad. He nodded and addressed to the students in the background. With his words, he took off the ground as he flew away towards the main building.

To piss me off more, because he made it look _so _easy, the crowd of students followed after him with their own flying spells.

Oh come on!

Meanwhile, the familiars were left on their own. I was sure they would start eating another once their masters were out of sight, but they didn't seem to mind each other. They began to wander around the field but never took off outside the walls or through the widely open gates.

I was left alone with the girl who branded me. She looked up at the students with a thin line crossing her lips. Seeing as I was staring at her, she looked away in… embarrassment? I didn't see why, but I knew nothing about her to determine anyways.

Rather than taking up flight like her peers, she chose to tread casually towards the main-tower entrance. She gestured for me to follow her and so I did. There were things we needed to talk about and things I needed to know. With or without being able to understand another, I will find a way to communicate with this girl.

*Scene*

I might as well have been tossed into the past. Earth's past, anyways. Most of the building was made of cement bricks but, from what my eyes could pick up, they had yet to install steel wiring. There was no lighting system outside of a lit torch and large windows for sunlight. I was worried this was an era in which indoor plumbing was considered their science-fiction.

Don't laugh at me. Indoor plumbing is the greatest invention known to mankind!

The room of my summoner was located in the North-West wing of the main-tower within the female dormitories. As the sun was setting, I could only assume male guests were still permitted at these hours. But it's not like we walked into someone on our way here. I also took note the furnishings of the hallways and walls were full of statues, fine wooden floors, expensive vases full of fresh flowers, and esquisette paintings of… middle-age European aristocrats.

At the sight of her room, I couldn't help but groan and slap my own face. Fine silk and cotton school uniforms should have been a clear giveaway. Her room was just as large as any of the guest rooms of my castle. That is to say, her room was just as large as the square-feet of the little house I lived in back on Earth. There was a queen-sized bed with sheets so soft it made it look like a still cloud, a fine wooden wardrobe wider than I was tall, a desk, a small dining table which could fit four individuals, and a large bookshelf filled to the brim.

Oh good God. It's another _Lolifor_. Any one of these things could have been sold off to pay for a year of living expenses when I was still living with Terah.

Terah… I shook my head. I wasn't ready yet to start thinking of her again.

"Summoner," I announced in French as soon as I shut the door. A door of splendidly carved oak with a gilded doorknob that could alone pay for… No, bad Artemis. You're not poor anymore. Get out of that mindset.

My choice of language got her attention. She asked me a question with her expression full of shock. But it's not like I could understand her…

"What was the purpose of summoning me?"

Her brow creased as she stared at me as though I had grown an extra head. Well, no, I had actually seen that stare before. Funny experience that was. So I was just using the wrong comparison.

Nonetheless, she said something, dismissing me, and began to walk towards her wardrobe.

…And started to strip.

"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" I, admittedly, flipped out a little bit more than I should have. Alyse, Reaper, Bladeworks, and Coquette especially did this in front of me. Some to entice me, others to tease. But Louise? She was completely ignoring my existence as though I were nothing more than…

Oh wait. I was branded as a familiar. She _did _think of me as nothing more than a pet.

Well, the other half of the problem was that she couldn't be older than _twelve. _Like hell did I want to see some undeveloped naked body. No, no, that was for sick fucks like Lolifor. I refused to be anything like that short-ass little turd. _Refused._

Louise put on a camisole with nothing underneath. She turned, pointed at the heaps of clothes on the floor, and barked out orders for me. Then, she pointed at the hamper at the corner of the room and barked out more orders. Last, she pointed at the heap of hay at the side of the room in which I had completely missed and (guess what) barked _more _orders.

I didn't need to be a linguist to figure out what she was telling me to do.

"No," I stood my ground. I stepped forward and instead of picking up her laundry, I tipped the basket over with my foot. "I'm not here to _serve _you."

She scowled and twitched angrily as she fetched her wand and pointed it at me. Naturally, she threw words at me regarding the order of things. She the master and I the familiar, and all that.

"You are child," I countered. She understood that much. Good. It meant he had to keep his sentences short. "I am no dog. My name is Artemis, not _familiar. _Answer my question. _Why am I here?_"

I grimaced when she told me to shut up or else.

I knew better than to argue with a child. Children needed to be guided and shown what is right and what is wrong and let them decide on their own. That's the way my father taught me and it was the way I taught Terah when it was just us. I can't speak for myself, though I believe I always make the right choice in life, but Terah was always a good girl.

However, those principles didn't apply here. Looking around once more at the fancy furnishings, the fancy uniforms of a prestigious school, and from her _obvious _superiority complex, I believe my normal methods will just land on deaf ears.

"No," I crossed my arms and refused to move any further. "Put your wand down. We will talk—"

She had enough and shouted a two-verse incantation.

Fine. If she wanted to resort to violence then I will indulge her. If she truly wanted to behave like a child then I shall treat her like one. My Spirit flowed through my veins in an instant as I commanded it to weave a predetermined pattern of fair-level magic resistance. It would repel planetary reserves— the energy source she was using to cast her spell— up to three-line incantations. In short, it could repel .55 caliber magic bullets. Nothing save for an anti-magic technique or armor-piercing spell could penetrate it.

My preparations were useless as her spell exploded in my face. My protections were completely nullified as though it was an anti-magic _brick. _Metaphysical strings in which should have bounced the spell off had become brittle and shattered. I was knocked off my feet as my nose started dripping blood.

"How the hell…?" I cursed as I started the recovery process.

This was a completely alien technique to me. With all my knowledge, I've never heard of _raw _anti-magic. I had been able to generate a barrier of anti-magic, but that was from burning just as much Craven magic keeping it up. Anti-magic required something for it to cement itself into. But someone _can't _make a spell and encase it with anti-magic. That'll just unravel the spell itself. Someone would need to find, say, a brick, wrap it with anti-magic properties, and then throw the damn thing.

Louise did all that without the physical brick.

"Learn your place, familiar!" Louise demanded of me. "Now get up and do as you're told!"

I waved the smoke of… sulfur out of my face as I gripped the edge of the nearby table to lift myself up. "God, for all I care at this point, you could just burn in hell…"

"What did you just say?! …Huh?" Her anger abated as we had both started to realize something. "I… I can understand you. Say something else!"

Dusting the soot off of my sweatshirt, I tried to assert myself once again. I could ask about her anti-magic spell at another time. "If you really can understand me, there are things we need to discuss. I want to know about this familiar pact you forced me into."

"There's nothing to discuss," she replied stubbornly. "You are my familiar and that's that. Now see to your chores or I won't grant you breakfast. I expect them to be done by the morning. I am tired. I am retiring for the day. Wake me at dawn— I will not be late for my classes because of tardiness."

With that, she closed the curtains, climbed into bed, and laid there with her back to me.

I did everything in my power to hold back the sigh. But there's only so much the magic of pinching one's sinuses could provide.

Forcing my emotions back down, I willed myself into a neutral mindset. "I am going for a walk. I will find my own quarters for the evening. Once you've calmed down, I will come back and we may discuss this matter again."

Before she could rise up and argue, I was already out the door.

*Scene*

The castle was nowhere near as huge as mine back in Ilyvander. No, no, the monstrosity my father built by carving out a whole _mountain _was big enough to fit every Djinn family in their own hallways with plenty of space left over. It was more of an indoor city than anything. _Countless _times I had gotten lost and had to call upon the Sentinels to escort me to my intended destination. It took me months just to get familiar with the most frequently used areas. I haven't even touched the lower levels. Bladeworks had been enthusiastically suggesting an exploration for a while.

Having that said, the concept of 'lost' was a good friend of mine. He or she was always by my side no matter where I went. Even as I retraced my steps, I found the twists and turns of the hallways were leading me around in circles. Maybe I just didn't have a sense of direction. I mean, seriously, I couldn't have been in that room for more than ten— fifteen minutes, tops. I am very proud of my photographic memory as it got me very far in school. Therefore, the only logical reason would be because the hallways were magically shifting even as my eyes could not pick up any interference.

It had to be.

The sun was over the horizon at this point with its rays slowly dying and cutting off my external resource of Spirit. Not that it mattered. The magicians of this world relied on the natural energies of the planet itself. It's not like they knew my magic was based off of sunlight. And even if they did and tried anything during the night, they would quickly find out the hard way my powers were _hardly _dwindled.

I let a smile slip as I watched the torches lined against the walls light themselves simultaneously. If they had a magic in which could light up all torches at a predetermined time, then surely they could use those theories to better their lack of technology. Or perhaps they had and I am judging too soon. For all I know, they could have progressed quite well within the past few years and were quickly improving. Maybe I will make a link with this world and Travel back here within the next ten years.

But first, I had to get off this rock.

And to first do that, I had to find my way out of this atrocious maze.

I turned the corner and had stumbled upon a pair of students mingling in a small waiting room lobby between dorms. The blonde I recognized immediately as one of the boys pointing and laughing at Louise. He was sitting on a bench, spewing sweet nothings of nonsense to a younger brown-haired girl who was eating every word he said. His school uniform was full of frills and made to expose his open chest while he waved a vibrant rose around.

What a fruitcake.

Then again… Lolifor's not _that _different when it comes to picking up girls. Not women. _Girls._

I paid them no mind as I used a weave to conceal my presence. Unless they looked directly at me they would not see me. Hell, I could wave my arms, grab a torch and wave that around as well, and they would not notice me one big. But noise could get their attention, however I didn't feel like installing a few extra weaves to silence myself. Simple Craven magic will suffice, especially when stealth is what it was designed for.

I slipped by them without problems.

A while later, as I started to recognize my surroundings, I was stopped by one girl whom I had seen from the crowd earlier. She was another blonde, but had long hair twirled in ringlets and had her nose dotted with freckles. On her shoulder was her familiar, a small frog smaller than my palm.

She asked me if I had seen someone and gave me a description matching the fruitcake I had just seen. After a small inquiry, I found out she was his girlfriend.

Oh so he was one of _those _fruitcakes.

However, I had some mild respect for such individuals. I shouldn't, as what they do go against my morals. I shouldn't be talking since even though I love Alyse with all my heart, I still have the other girls who embrace me as much as I do with them. Alyse knows and approves (with some reluctance). However there is a line between having multiple lovers and just outright cheating.

I would have to say I respect the fruitcake because he reminds me of Lolifor. Despite the pedophile having no morals whatsoever, he was still a good friend who had did everything he could to have as many survivors as possible during the Godking's Rite.

So, I made up a story and pointed her in a false direction.

It would be the only kindness I would ever show the boy if he continues this path.

About half an hour later of wandering around, I finally found the first floor. Granted, that still didn't mean I knew where I was going. I may have been familiar with the general area, but with all the hallways looking the same and no sunlight to direct me, I had no idea where I was going. Luckily I had found a staff member who was carrying a basket of rags. I startled her, caused her to drop her things everywhere, and I helped her gather them.

We greeted another. Her name was Siesta and she was one of the many maids working in Tristain's Academy of Magic in order to support her large farming family back home in a small village of Tarbes. She had only known me as the human familiar summoned by Louise Vallière. I couldn't let my identity be known as this. I simply let her know my name and that I had been summoned from another world.

Of course, she didn't believe me. Who would? Coming and going with other worlds is only found in ideas of fantasy stories. I decided to leave it as me being from someone far away— a complete foreigner.

We had something of an agreement. If I were to assist her with the laundry she could provide me with some base knowledge of where I am. As she mentioned before, I was in the Academy of Magic in the heart of the country of Tristain. It was an institute in which the Nobility sent their children to learn all manner of education along with how to control their magic gift. The academy was but a few hours away from the capital by horse.

I looked up at the sky as soon as we stepped out of the building. The sky was much in the same as Earth's. No, that wasn't correct. The alignment of the stars was completely different. I would love to map out a chart if I could stay here long enough. Also, there were two moons instead of one— one red, and one blue. The hues of the moons did not affect my Spirit in the slightest. I say it's the same as Earth's because the sky in Ilyvander is black.

Though the sun is a star, Sunlight and Starlight are two different Originals. But since the sun vanished since the end of the Sun King, all the stars in the sky vanished as well. I should also mention the moon was also gone, but I never asked if there was one to begin with. If Earth had one moon, this world had two, there might be no moon assigned to Ilyvander.

Siesta told me about the status between the Nobility and the Commoners. The Nobles were blessed with the gift of magic by this Founder Brimir. They ruled much in the same way the feudal aristocracy did in the early centuries of Earth. With Nobles, there was a ruling family of Royalists who were said to be the direct descendants of Founder Brimir. So, this world had Victorian era English technology while still running on the old and completely unfair feudal system?

"Thank you very much for your help, Mr. Familiar," Siesta smiled at me as she hefted one basket while I carried two others under each arm. "Is there anything else you would like to know?"

I have a name, Siesta.

"Nothing that comes to mind," I shrugged as we approached the staff. Siesta had been a huge help. She could have told me what she knew about the Springtime Familiar Ritual, but I had declined and told her it was under the responsibility of my summoner to tell me. It also fell upon Louise to tell me how the system of magic works in this world, although I already had a few theories in mind.

"Have a good night, Siesta," I placed the baskets down against the wall of the staff facilities where she had told me to. "I appreciate the conversation."

"No, thank you Mr. Familiar," Siesta smiled sweetly at me. "I'd be up all night doing this if it wasn't for you. I hope things work out between you and Ms. Vallière."

With nothing else to say, we said our goodbyes.

My eyes shifted to the String World as I traced my fragrance back to the room of my summoner. It took me a while because, good God, I really was going around in circles for a while. It was one big knot with the way I was roaming around. Shifting the frequency in which they perceived, I read her emotions. She was sound asleep and dreaming well. However, she was still peeved with me. It would probably be best if I left her alone…

My eyes readjusted to the mundane plane. It looks like things are going to be that much harder… I hope the girls aren't worried about me.

*Scene*

"Mr. Familiar?" Siesta called out to me.

I had been awake before she called for me. There was no magic involved, only experience. My body had been tuned to be aware of presences whose attention was directed towards me. If someone was staring at me from a great distance, I would know. So I had been awake ever since the staff had begun trimming the bushes of the lawn. And here I thought sleeping under the tree in the far edges of the academy had been a good idea.

It all started when the girls lived with me during the Godking's Rite back on Earth. At first it was just Alyse staying in the same room as me when she was a ten-inch _doll_. But then my partners in the Game grew to Bladeworks, then Baker, then Reaper, then the Gemini sisters, and then Rose. Eventually it all grew into a fiasco to where I reopened my father's room and made them all sleep in there.

That didn't stop them from sneaking in. Eventually my body just became aware if they were planning on doing something to me in my sleep.

Still, the staff only noticed me and went on their duties. I was able to sleep lightly while keeping notice of my surroundings. It wasn't until I felt Siesta's eyes lying on mine I became fully awake. It was a shame. I had been up for nearly two days in total hours between my project and roaming around in this world. I couldn't have fallen asleep no later than midnight. It was still dark out but I could feel the sun was starting to arrive over the horizon.

A simple healing weave to drive away my fatigue had me ready to take on the day. But I would have still preferred a good cup of coffee over shocking my brain.

I got up off the ground and stretched. "Good morning, Siesta. You seem to be up early. Shouldn't you be resting a bit more? I'm sure you were working all day."

"Oh don't worry," she waved her hand in dismissal as she smiled. "This is the norm of the staff around here. But, um, what are you doing out here? Did things not go well with Ms. Vallière?"

"I didn't bother going to her," I finished rolling my shoulder. I noticed how her smile faltered at the mentioning of ignoring a Noble like Louise. Not that it mattered to me. I was just an outsider. "She was pretty upset last night, so I'm giving her some space to cool off. Anyways, I've got a few hours before she wakes up. Is there anything else you need help with for the moment?"

I suppose I should at least clean myself up. As she looked away in thought, I spun my fingers in a weave to reject dirt and grime off my skin and hair. I'm not saying I'm hiding my magic from her. However, I don't want her getting the impression I'm some sort of Noble. There was an obvious aura of fear when Siesta told me about Nobles.

"Well…" she tapped her chin as she looked to the sky. "I suppose, if you're free, you could help us in the Alvis Hall. That's where we serve breakfast to the students and faculty. We're a little short-staffed at the moment as some of us are also preparing food for the familiars."

So the school also takes care of providing provision for the familiars as well? Then what was all that hoopla Louise mentioned about not giving me breakfast?

I shrugged and gestured for her to lead the way.

*Scene*

I had half a mind to recreate a scene from Fantasia. You all know the one I'm talking about. Hours before the Alviss Dining Hall was open, Siesta, I, and a handful of other maids were to clean every corner. The dining hall was large enough to have a feast of over a few thousand students— honestly there couldn't be more than a few hundred blueblood magicians attending this school. There were three rows of tables parallel to another made out of one whole chunk of wood. I could only conclude magic was in the works when carving such ridiculous tables.

The floors needed to be scrubbed and waxed; everything from the tables, to the decorum, to the walls themselves needed to be dusted and oiled down; and the glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling several feet above needed to be polished with a just as ridiculous ladder.

Making wooden appliances come alive sounded like a good idea. What I found funny was with my particular Sorcery I could have made it happen. Having an army of dolls is one thing, but I'm more than sure the girls (Alyse in particular) would ridicule me for bringing home an army of mops, brooms, rags, and buckets. It was the only thing stopping me from actually doing it.

That, and I wanted to rub it into Baker's little fairy face that I do _not _suck at cleaning.

Seeing it was finally time to start serving the students, I was pushed to the staff entrance by another maid. They gave me a cooking apron with a chef's hat and told me to push one of the carts around as the maids served the breakfast.

As the students began to arrive at their own leisure, I eyed the food being placed on my cart. And holy crap. When I first arrived at my father's castle, the Djinn who had been maintaining the building had served me and the girls food just like this. That is to say, the food was beyond exquisite. And this was just breakfast for a bunch of kids? On a normal day?

What a bunch of spoiled little pricks. A meal like this would have taken me a few months of saving back at my job as a grocer.

I kept silent as I pushed the cart while Siesta served the food and poured— good God Almighty— wine into crystalline glasses. And I continued to keep silent as those students I recognized were snickering at me and asking me if 'the Zero' couldn't pay me well enough. I had no idea what they were talking about. I had heard that word yesterday but knew nothing about it.

Be that as it may, only an idiot couldn't put two-and-two together. I didn't know what Zero meant, but I knew they were talking about my summoner. They continued to mock her.

What bugged me was I was so bothered by this. It wasn't pity in the slightest. It was more so…

…I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Familiar!"

And suddenly those feelings washed away. I even waved goodbye to them as they drifted down the metaphorical river.

"Good morning, Louise," I gave a warm smile as I greeted the little mage who was stomping her feet towards me. Rather than trying to fake a smile, I instead sought to find amusement in her actions. It wasn't difficult to find this humorous as she _was _just a child. "Did you sleep well? I hope you've calmed down since last we've talked."

She did not look happy in the slightest. Though passable in the modern age of Earth, I could make out the little imperfections of her and her attire. Strands of her hair were out of place, her clothes were wrinkled with some of the buttons mismatching, and one stocking was only raised to her calf while the other went up to her thigh. It was a clear sign of someone oversleeping and rushing to prepare themselves.

She actually thought I was going to wake her up? Hilarious.

"What do you think you're doing here?!" she nearly shrieked but did surprisingly well to keep her voice down. The eyes of her peers were already on her and she didn't want to make a scene. Good. "You were supposed to wake me at dawn! And not only did you fail to return to your master but you have the audacity to assist the staff? They are paid to do their jobs for a reason. Are you even listening to me?!"

I take it back. She might have kept her voice down but she knew next to nothing about not gaining bad attention.

"Please enjoy," I said to the pair of students I served while Louise was ranting. Siesta had been troubled between carrying on with her job and helping me. She stood in the background, frozen with the exception of switching glances between Louise and I. I took it upon myself to finish the job she had started as soon as Louise interrupted us.

"What's wrong, Louise?" said the boy to my left. "You not paying him enough and now he went back to serving?"

"We all knew you faked your summoning," snickered his friend to my right.

I turned to the little magician who had summoned me and gave her a simple smile through hardened eyes. She could only stare back at me as her emotions were controlling her thoughts. She couldn't even tell I was disappointed with her. That, or she didn't care in the slightest. I was nothing more than a pet to her after all.

"Siesta," I turned to the maid. The girl jumped in surprise but had my full attention. "I'm very sorry but could you finish without me? I need to have a word with my _master._"

Siesta blinked and had a thin line on her lips as she was unsure of what to do. I gave her a nod of assurance. With that, she gave me a nervous smile and pushed the cart away, leaving me with Louise.

Louise didn't have that talk with me like we were supposed to. Instead, she gestured for me to follow her to the middle table. I held back a laugh when she glared daggers at me as she waited in front of one seat, expecting me to pull it out for her. I had half a mind to do so and to pull it under her at the last second and watch her fall to the floor. As funny as it would have been, I wouldn't stoop to her childish level. But I wouldn't do her a kindness either.

I tilted my head and feigned ignorance.

With a puff, she corrected my mistake and told me in the future to pull out her chair. She left it at that and seated herself.

She nearly flipped when I took the seat to her right.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Sitting," I replied through a strained voice. I was quickly getting tired of this nonsense. I can already predict what she was going to say next.

"Only Nobles can sit here. You're place is down there."

My eyes followed where she was pointing at. Yep, I was _totally _right in my assumptions. I really was nothing more than some pet. She was pointing at the dish of bread on the floor beside her chair. I had seen it earlier but thought nothing about that. I knew she though so little of me, but I didn't really see how badly until that.

"Be grateful I'm a forgiving master," she said with such _pride _it was as if she had performed some grand charity and sacrificed so much for me. "But today will be my only kindness. If you refuse to obey me further I'll not show you another. Normally familiars aren't allowed in the Hall, but I've asked to make an exception for you."

Dark thoughts flashed through my mind. I've never wanted to do such terrible things to a girl before. I thought about grabbing the bread, pinning her to the floor, and shove it down her throat until she suffocates and pisses as her brain dies out.

And then I had the _dark _thoughts of things I would only do to my enemies. Things that would have her begging like the dog she thought I was.

But I willed those away. As efficient as fear is, I did not want to use it to overpower the magician girl. I wouldn't be at her level— I would be far worse. There were more virtuous methods of educating someone like her. I'd like to sleep soundly at night.

"Tell me, _master. _It's my understanding so far that a familiar is a creature in which serves a specific magician though a unique bond. Is this correct?"

Louise eyed me when I leaned forward on the table, propped up my elbows, and rested my chin on my cupped hands. In the corner of my eyes I stared back, keeping my expressions as neutral as possible.

"…Yes, that's correct." Her eyes narrowed. "If you understand then you should know your place and listen to what I have to say."

"So then it is in my understanding that I am to be in your care. That since you summoned me I am to be by your side and perform duties under your name. That anything I do is a reflection upon yourself and your responsibility over me."

She said nothing as her brows creased in confusion.

"So, _master,_" I paused as I looked around the room. I caught glimpses of students staring at us in disgust for me sitting here and snickering like teenagers would while mocking Louise even further. It meant nothing to me. I was busy evaluating something else.

"I think I'll make a fool of myself," I said with a shrug. "Maybe strip down naked and run amok right here and now. Maybe break a few things, throw some food and wine in Nobles' faces, steal a few kisses from the girls around here, maybe do a little bit more here and there. Normally I would never dare to do these things as they're rather embarrassing. But what do I care? I'm not the one who will get the blame. I believe those in charge will reprimand the one who let their _dog _get out of control."

Truth be told, my mind wanted me to start a fire. A part of me didn't care if a few students got caught in the blaze so long as Louise got in trouble for it. But I would never do something like that. As sweet as the idea sounds, it also made me sick. There are not very many things out there worse than burning bodies. It's an experience I never want to see again.

Louise gawked. "Y-You wouldn't dare!"

"Do I need to, Vallière?" I turned my head and sharpened my gaze. I didn't look down upon her as an enemy, or even as a potential threat I might have to attack. It was a sharp gaze I would have given to one of the girls if I thought they went over the line.

Unfortunately, Louise didn't seem to be bothered by it in the slightest. She quickly recovered, stood on her feet as she kicked back the chair, and shouted. "I will not be patronized by my own familiar! You will do as I say or— WHAT IN BRIMIR'S NAME ARE YOU DOING?!"

There was no need to answer that question. I had taken off my sweater and was beginning to unbutton my shirt. She was just repeating herself at this point and refused to face facts. Oh well. Maybe this will be a lesson she needs to—

The room had been silent as students stopped their gossiping to watch the two of us. It was more than quiet enough for me to hear anything else that was going on. The sound of shouting was heard. I stopped stripping and focused my eyes on what was happening. Normally I would have proceeded with my plan, but the second sound hidden underneath the shouting had gotten my attention.

Siesta was muttering things so quietly I could not hear them. She was pressed against the wall with her arms to her chest like a protective shield as a group of boys stood in front of her. At the center was the blonde fruitcake I had seen last night as he was spewing fancy and unneeded words regarding something being Siesta's fault.

"Excuse me," I said as I got out of my seat and began to quickly pace over to their direction.

Louise wouldn't let me and was about to intercept my path. However, I kicked up the chair she knocked over, spun it around, and shoved her into the seat. I gave her one _glare _that told her not to stop me.

"Alright that's enough," I said with a loud voice as I approached the group. "If there's a problem then deal with it yourself; there's no need to gang up on one person."

Everyone's eyes turned towards me. The group of boys stared at me dumbfounded while worry crossed Siesta's face. I felt her body trying to signal me to just walk away. But I wouldn't have any of it.

"Who… Oh, yes, I remember you," the fruitcake dressed in the same style of clothes as last night waved his rose around with a flourish. "You're the plebian the Zero hired. I don't know how you staged all that, but it doesn't matter. It would seem you're back to serving in the kitchen."

I took this moment to stand beside Siesta. The thought of me using magic of any sort was expunged. With everyone watching these boys would never resort to anything distasteful without having their reputations broken. It was why they were grouped together to begin with. They wanted to look as imposing as possible.

Ah, it would seem no matter what world one is in, high school bullshit never escapes.

"The business between the girl and I is none of your concern," I cut him off as he had more to say. "Now what happened?"

The blonde boy didn't seem to like my tone. "This is none of your business. It is between the maid and I."

"Yes, it would," I nodded. "I'll not stop you, but I believe I should be here to support Siesta since you lack the balls to approach her alone."

Silence. The background and white noise of the Hall had been cut off by my words. Now there wasn't a soul who wasn't paying attention to this confrontation.

"…What…" his voice was so low I had barely heard him. His face was flushed with rage as he gritted his teeth. "What did you say to me, _Commoner?"_

I did not bother to reply to him. My head turned to Siesta. "What happened?"

"Ah!" she had been so caught by my insult that my question brought her rudely back to reality. She had to take a moment to collect herself. "W-Well, I saw Mr. Gramont drop a vial and so I sought to return it to him—"

"Do not ignore me—"

I put my hand in front of the boy's face before he could say anything more. The act was more than enough to shut him up as he was caught in his own rage. It would take a short moment for him to gather his wits. I gestured for Siesta to continue.

She was conflicted between finishing my request to fearing the wrath of what will happen once the Noble recovers. But she eventually continued, "A-And he denied it was his. But I knew I saw him drop it and tried to return it to him once more. There was a dispute as the vial was found out to be perfume made by Ms. Montmorency while Mr. Gramont was with Ms. Springfield a few moments ago. Ms. Montmorency arrived moments later and discovered his… relations with Ms. Springfield. Both ladies slapped him and left."

I crossed my arms and waited. I blinked as she had nothing more to say. "…So what do you have to do with this?"

"This girl," interjected the Noble as he pointed accusingly with his rose, "broke the hearts of two maidens by bringing the vial after I had denied its ownership. As such, she needs to take responsibility—"

"Oh shut up," I refused to let him finish. "It's your fault you little shit. Do not put the blame on another for the sheer stupidity of your own doing. Should Siesta have listened to you, the girls would have found out on your actions and the events would have played out just the same. Go away before you embarrass yourself further."

I had nothing more to say. I grabbed Siesta's hand and pulled her away. I believe after all this she would need a break and guided her towards the kitchen.

But _somebody _wouldn't let this go.

"I'll not be insulted by a mere plebian," gritted the fruitcake through his teeth. "It would seem you need to know your place, _Commoner. _I hereby challenge you to a duel!"

The silence from the background was broken by a series of gasps. The group of boys around him was telling him to just let it go and face facts. They also said it was against the rules to hold duels. The boy countered that his honor had been stepped on and it was his duty as a Noble to teach me the way things work. He also said there was no rule against dueling Commoners and familiars.

I stopped walking.

I let go of Siesta's hand.

I turned, paced my steps back towards the _boy, _and glared down at him. "I refuse your challenge."

The Gramont boy did not take my words so well. He scowled as his lips tightened into a thin line. "You have no choice but to comply or face the punishment of the law. You will fight me or be thrown into the dungeons—"

I didn't let him finish. I had reached into the back pocket of my jeans, pulled out the tuning gloves I use when at my workshop, and slapped him across the face with them. The crack of contact was louder than thunder at this point.

"No, _Gramont_," rage seethed through me. "You will fight me. You are filth. Garbage! You use those who love you for your selfish and pathetic needs, cower when these things are taken from you, and bully the defenseless in order to hide your shame. You are not a man. You are not even a _boy. _You are a _dickless _child. And you'd dare to try these things again. So I will teach you what happens when you step over your liberties. I will be the one to challenge you to a duel."

There was silence in which not a single thing was heard. And then there is silence in which the lack of noise is louder than any disturbance. This was a silence in which everyone in the Alviss Hall could drown in its tension.

The _child _was beyond rage at this point. His eyes had honed from fiery furry to cold steel. This was a rage in which broke through one's mental capacities.

"It is against the law for a Commoner to issue a duel against a Noble. I should have you arrested for this."

I leaned down and touched brows with him. "Then do you accept my words, _coward_?"

His eyes narrowed as he knew well what would happen should he turn down my challenge. Reputation was everything, including to one of nobility and _especially _a young teenager attending school. No one cares more about what others think than teenagers. I was counting on it for him to accept. And if not, should he call for the guards or something, then I'll be beating this little shit to the ground before they arrive.

"I shall be in the Vestry Court," he declared while turning around, never backing away. "I will put you in your place, plebian."

Students stood from their seats and followed after the Gramont, eager to see the event unfold. Gossips were whispered as eyes were directed towards me. I even heard one student start a tally on bets with every one of them against me.

All I could do was remain standing where my feet were planted. My eyes were closed as I tried to keep in my emotions. This world has done nothing but piss me off so far. Louise was one thing, and I could perhaps tolerate the Gramont boy to an extent. But the reactions from all of the other students infuriated me. They were treating this like some sort of gladiator match in which they were going to watch someone be slaughtered.

I had seen Siesta's petrified look of absolute horror. She truly believed I was going to die once I stepped into the Vestry Court.

"FAMILIAR!" However I could not tell for what reason my summoner was more agitated than usual. Oh, I could fathom a guess. But with her, it could be anything.

"Vallière," my voice was irate. Nevertheless, I opened my eyes and looked down as the little girl was tugging at my collar trying to pull me down to her level and failing miserably.

"Do you have _any _idea what you've done?!" she didn't seem bothered by my lack of compliance. "Guiche will kill you! Do you understand that?!"

I flicked her hand away. I really wasn't in the mood to deal with this. "Pray tell me, Vallière, in what way could he be a threat to me?"

"I-In what way?!" she stepped back speechless. She had to blink a few times as she rolled the question in her mind as though I had asked the dumbest thing known to mankind and was trying to find the sense in asking such a question. "G-Guiche is a Noble! He may be just a dot-class mage, but he is still more than capable of killing you! No Commoner can stand up against a mage! It's impossible!"

I gave her a dead-stare. If that was all she had to say I had no reason to listen to her. I turned away from her and began to exit the Alviss Hall.

"A-Artemis," the sound of Siesta's plea made me stop. "Please. You don't have to do this. I will turn myself in for punishment."

There were many words in which I could say to her. Words of ridicule, words of comfort, words of sympathy, of pity— endless replies came to my mind but none of them I would ever use. Instead, I gave her one look. An empty look in which would leave her imagination to fill in its own meaning. However she perceived its meaning would be up to her.

Ignoring the badgering and tugging of my summoner, I followed the crowd to the Vestry Court.

*Scene*

"I'm shouldn't be surprised that you actually showed up," Guiche stood in the center of the Vestry Court with the petals of his rose just under his chin. His expression hadn't changed in the slightest. "But if you hadn't, I would've hunted you down myself."

The Vestry Court was one of the larger gardens of the inner walls of the Academy. Or at least the bigger of what I have seen so far. It was a large open lawn with well-trimmed grass, a bed of flowers here and there, statues, fountains, and stone walkways littering across elegantly. The field was more than large enough to fit every student in the Hall.

The large crowd of some-hundred students let me pass as they circled around us in a large enough radius in which to give us enough space as well as for everyone to see the impending duel. A thirty-five foot radius wasn't much to work with. It was cramped and wouldn't leave much freedom for the things I would normally fight against.

Curiously enough, I had spotted the two girls from last night who I could only assume to be Montmorency and Springfield. Even the bitterness of a broken heart couldn't keep them away from such a spectacle, it would seem.

But it was from the tightness of the radius that assured me. Assuming duels were common around here and the students had seen their fair share, it meant the duels were hardly anything s_pectacular _as the brawls, beat-downs, and slaughters I had faced.

I did not respond to Guiche's words. There was no need. "What are the terms for the victor and the defeated, the rules of engagement, and the conditions of decision?"

"Guiche!" my summoner shouted as she shoved her way through the crowd. "Guiche, stop this! He is my familiar and it's my responsibility! I will see to it he is properly punished if you—"

"You're still going on about that, Vallière?" Guiche was not amused. "No, I will not. This has gone far enough. Let alone he _dared _to challenge me. Your _familiar _needs to know his place."

The cold glare he gave her got her to be quiet. She wanted to say more, was about to cry as I saw the look of desperation. I could only assume it meant life or death to her if she was thinking about planting her face to the ground and begging for forgiveness.

If things turned out the way I expect them to, I could turn this into a learning experience for both Guiche and Louise. Maybe even for all the Noble brats present.

Guiche elaborated loud enough for everyone else to hear. He was more interested in making this into a show for everyone to witness rather than taking me seriously. "The victor shall do whatever is desired onto the defeated. We will fight with _magic. _And the victor shall be decided once the victor says so," he concluded with a smirk.

The victor is determined by the victor. And we were to fight with magic. If he was trying to get a reaction out of me, it wasn't working. I remained passive about his rules. The Nobility is blessed with the gift of magic and as such have full rights to rule over those without. I recalled what Siesta told me. Guiche truly wanted to put me to the ground as though I deserved it. He issued these rules so that no Commoner could ever agree— could ever defend themselves. And no matter how the Commoner would beg, Guiche would use the terms of the victor to keep the duel as long as he saw fit.

This would be brutality. If there was truth to Louise's words then the magicians of this world had a gap of power in which no mundane individual could ever hope to stand up to them, even against a child like Guiche. So under these circumstances, one would have to ask where the faculty was. Where were the guards who protected the order of the building and protected all of those residing within the walls?

They were using a scrying spell to watch from a distance, of course. _As if_ my eyes couldn't pick up the trace of magic above our heads. I had half a mind to look into their mystical camera.

"Very well."

Whispers and snickers from the crowd. It was getting old very fast.

"Hmph," Guiche tussled the bangs of his hair as he tried to hold back a smirk. "So be it, Commoner. That arrogance will be your downfall."

He swished his rose around as I watched a lone petal fall off its stem. It drifted to the ground and vanished into sparkles of light as it faded into the dirt. Light shone brighter as a circular ring nearly three feet wide in diameter expanded. A figure rose out of the ground in full medieval armor made of pure bronze and stood just as tall as I was. In its hands was a bronze jousting lance just a little taller than the both of us.

There was life in this suit. Life, but no sentience. It was completely dependent on Guiche.

"I am Guiche de Gramont," he began to announce. "My runic name is the Bronze, so therefore it is only fitting you face my bronze Valkyrie."

I, however, was not impressed. The armor was shit. Its design was fragile and left far too many holes in its defense. It was purely something for decoration— no doubt he had based its design off of some decorative plating he had seen in pictures or had similar models in his home. Plus, bronze? Bronze was far too heavy for mobility and considered a soft metal. Had this suit of armor been used in actual combat, its user would be killed easily.

The only upside was there was no one inside. This was puppetry and transmutation. I respected his craft for turning the ground into bronze, even if it was just temporary.

But I was also not impressed because it was so basic. So _childish._

"One," I called out in a low voice. The workings inside my body came alive at the command. Spirit surged through my veins and reached into my fingertips. The tattoos of wings at my hands came alive as I beckoned for the use of the Gift of Craft.

"Two," I commanded a second working to activate, my mind, body, and mystic functions to excel at thrice its potential. I lifted my hands as my eyes shifted into the String World.

Guiche grimaced but waited what I was about to do. He looked at me as though I were mad. And why not? From what I've seen so far, the magicians of this world needed a focus of some sort in order to use their spells. To them, I was counting numbers and raising my hands for nothing.

"Three," the insides of my body roared as my processing was pushed past its mundane limits. Had this been a few years ago, I would have been reeling in pain. But now, I was stronger than any mundane.

If Guiche was going to fight me with a puppet, if he was going to expect this to be a match between a bully and a defenseless, well, he was in for a surprise.

No one would be able to see what I was doing. My fingers spun faster than what should have been humanly possible. They should have twisted and snapped in two with the way I was moving them over and under another. But with my abilities they could have just been moving normally.

My eyes were tracing over the blueprints of patterns to weave. I knew this specific weave more than I knew the pattern that made up my body. It had been branded into my soul and could be replicated in my sleep. But it was a weave in which consisted of hundreds of _billions _of patterns. Its intricacy was unbelievable. Just from seeing it I have nearly gone mad.

Therefore, I could never look into it and examine each individual pattern, else end up like my father.

Guiche had grown tired of waiting. He flicked his rose across. The Valkyrie came alive and charged. It moved faster than any normal person should have, kicking up dirt with each step.

But it was so _agonizingly _slow to me.

An image was starting to form for everyone to see. At first it had been nothing but a flicker in which played tricks with their minds, making them doubt they had seen anything. But as my weaves started to come together with its enormous variety of patterns, the flicker began to become more frequent and started to take shape.

As the Valkyrie was closing in, I concluded the last of my spellwork.

There was nothing flashy in its finish. It had simply appeared when my spell was completed. There was but a single swipe, a high-pitch whistle in the air, and the Valkyrie was obliterated into a hundred fragments.

The sight of my Sorcery left everyone silent.

Standing at nearly eight feet tall was a figure clad in pristine white and silver armor made of metals only found in my kingdom in Ilyvander. In its grip was a just as colossal great sword of the same metals. Unlike Guiche's Valkyrie, this creation of mine wasn't designed for decoration. Though its armor was beautiful, there were no elaborate engravings or compensating shapes to put emphasis to its potential power. It was a suit of armor in which wasn't designed for show, for duels, or even simple security.

It was designed for _war. _

This was a Djinn Sentinel, the very same of the hundreds of thousands that guard the borders of my kingdom, the districts under my authority, and the castle I and my girls live in.

And unlike Guiche's puppet, mine was given _sentient _life. It did not require me at all to fully function and could act on its own accord.

The Sentinel stood straight as it flicked the fragments of the Valkyrie off its blade. It waited its next command or for whatever Guiche was about to do next.

"Y-You…" The arrogance Guiche had before was completely swept away just in the same way his Valkyrie had been destroyed. "Y-You're a N-Noble?!"

His awe had been shared by everyone else spectating. Jaws had been dropped, gasps were heard, and whispers and curses were exchanged. Louise was staring at me in a new light.

I kept silent, not giving him anything. With a mental command, the Sentinel took a stance that threatened to attack if Guiche did not make his next move.

"No…" Guiche's shoulders began to shake. "It's just a fluke! You're just a plebian! You made this giant appear just in the same you faked the Zero's summoning!"

Absolute denial to retain his sanity, or was he truly that ignorant? He didn't look hysterical, just infuriated. Regardless, it was a sad sight.

He waved his rose once more. Three petals fell off the stem, landed onto the ground faster than they should have drifted, and dissolved into the dirt. Much the same way as before, glowing rings appeared and three more bronze Valkyries rose up. The one in front had the same lance while the two behind it had halberds.

In the same formation they were summoned, they charged simultaneously towards my Sentinel. The power of their kicks lifting dirt into the air as they moved faster than a normal human could sprint.

But, still, so agonizingly slow.

There was nothing but the sound of a whistle as the air was split in two. The first Valkyrie crumbled apart as my Sentinel did not so much as move forward, but it would be better to describe it as he _appeared _before it. I did not install something as complex as teleportation— there wasn't a need for it. There was a level of power and there was control following after. It had harnessed its own power, channeled it, focused it, and moved forward at a speed in which made it look like it had teleported.

But to me, I had been able to follow its every movement.

Guiche, however, had been unable to notice yet his first Valkyrie was just cleaved in two. He only began to notice what was happening once my Sentinel had moved on and was already beheading the second Valkyrie. Realization finally struck home as his eyes widened when the third Valkyrie was stabbed through the chest.

By this point, he was beginning to panic. He raised his wand and began to call upon more Valkyries.

Only, I wouldn't allow any of that.

My left hand was around his wrist and my right ringing his throat in the next instant. I had crossed the distance in the blink of an eye and his slow senses hadn't even realized it. It wasn't until I was shoving him to the floor did his eyes bulge out from surprise. Seeing as the rose he carried was his focus for magic, I had it removed by snapping his wrist out of its socket. His gargled screams filled the air.

At this point, as I continued to strangle him and watch him struggle for air and freedom with his life slowly beginning to fade away, I began to ponder my next move. How should I go about this? I could kill him. I could humiliate him. I could even let him go. But it would be from my decision that would also decide how he was to live his life from now on.

"Y-Yield!" he gasped between hard breaths.

I couldn't help but cock a brow. He was yielding? Giving up? Putting up the white flag?

My response was to tighten my grip.

Some students stepped forward to stop me. My Sentinel responded kindly by swinging its sword down inches before they could move. Any closer and they would have been missing their noses, some knee caps, and toes. Or it could have just spliced their faces right off. They got the message and backed off.

"W-Why?!" hacked Guiche.

"The victor is decided by the victor," I replied with his own words. "And the victor decides what to do with the defeated. I'm heavily thinking about killing you. It's not like you'd learn your lesson anyways."

He tried to argue. Except it came out as more gargling as he tried clawing at my grip. Unfortunately for him, my skin was as hard as steel right now from activating such heavy magic. His attempt was laughable. Still, his eyes looked up at mine pleadingly. They were saying he would never do it again.

"Never do _what _again, Guiche?" I loosened my grip enough for him to cough and take a bit of air. And then I squeezed down once more. "Cheat? Lie? Bully? No, you'll do those things again if I let you live. You'll just never do them in my presence. And you'll never insult me again, but you'll turn around and do it on someone else. No, you haven't learned your lesson."

His struggling was starting to weaken as his face was beginning to turn blue. Now the other students were beginning to beg for me to stop. Some tried to cast a spell, only for my Sentinel to intercept the super-low ranked fireballs and wind blasts. Even if it hadn't, my own natural magic defense would nullify their attacks. But what infuriated me the most was the faculty. I knew they were still watching. Where the hell were they?

"Artemis."

My head turned at the voice calling my name. A curious brow was perked as I found out it was Louise who called out to me. She looked… defeated. No longer angered, no longer desperate— she had hit rock-bottom with her emotions. Her pride was gone.

"Please, let him go."

I stared at her for a moment, judging her. I would have assumed she wanted me to release Guiche in order to save herself from any political backlash. As her familiar anything I would do will be a reflection upon herself. Therefore, a Vallière would be responsible for the death of a Gramont.

However… that idea wasn't in her eyes.

I let Guiche go and stood. I towered over him as I let him cough out his lungs and gasp for air. He rolled to his side as he clutched his dislocated wrist.

I kicked him over to his back so that he could face me. "Guiche, I have decided. As of this moment, you will not address yourself as a member of the Gramont house. You are Guiche and nothing more. You will wake up at dawn and provide any menial task the helping staff has to give. You will apologize to Siesta and to anyone else you have harmed both directly and indirectly, whether they be involved with today's incident or not. And you will keep begging for their forgiveness until they do so."

I wasn't done yet. I twisted a weave with my Spirit flowing nimbly through my fingers. Even across dimensions, _it _answered the calling of its master.

A sword appeared in my grip. _My _sword. The blade in which carries my blood as it was I who forged it from nothing. _Solstice. _The blade representing my authority. Feeling it in my grip granted me invigoration in which caused my body to glow with transcending levels of Spirit.

I was a walking ray of sunlight before their eyes.

I pressed the blade to Guiche's neck. "To learn humility, you are forbidden from using magic outside of your studies. When you are not performing your tasks with the staff or attending your classes, you are to report directly to me. You are to be in my services until I deem you have learned humility."

I pressed the blade a little closer, drawing blood. "…Or until I decide to kill you. Your life is mine, _Guiche. _These terms are non-negotiable."

I lifted Solstice away, turned my back to the mess of a boy, and paced myself towards Louise. My stare was hard as she could only look away. But I stopped myself as something else came to mind. Something in which I found needed to be pressed onto this matter.

"To answer your question," I turned back to Guiche. "I am neither a Noble nor a Commoner. My name is Artemis James Philips, and I am a King!"


	2. Artemis the Dog

**A message from the author!**

I would like to first thank everyone who has read this on the opening week and have dropped off a review. Of course, I also thank those who have favorited and followed the story. I did not expect this story or the main character to be so welcomed.

Having that said, a number of people have told me it would be best if I leave this alone and make it a Oneshot. I will have to decline. As I had said on the previous chapter, this story is for MY benefit. As selfish and rude as it is, it is the truth and I will not deny it. So I say again, whether the story is liked or not is up to the viewers. I like it, so therefore I will continue it.

I also would like to apologize if the first chapter was OC heavy with all of the unexplained lore. As I said, this was all intentional. Certain things will be explained at some point. Others won't be.

I will also be keeping my author notes to a bare minimum. Some chapters won't have them unless something important needs to be addressed. For now, I will say there is no 'epic' battles in this one. This chapter is mostly character development and to progress the story. I will say next chapter for sure will be the Foquette arc.

I thank all of you for reading this story and even more so for continuing.

Now, on with the show!

* * *

_"Magic has an intricate set of rules, guidelines, restrictions, and countless other laws to define its purpose. Magic isn't really like the kind you find in stories. It's more of a science- everything can be explained and replicated by alternative resources. But Sorcery? Well, take everything you learned- all of your math, your experiments, and the years of practice and experience spent to gain your potential with magic- and throw it out the window. Because Sorcery doesn't need ANY of those things."_

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**I am _N__ot _a Familiar  
**

"You're a Noble?"

Forty-seven minutes of absolute silence from Louise and she chooses to break the silence with that opening question. I'd be a liar if I said I was worried on why she had been quiet for so long. She had followed me out of the Vestry Court like a lost dog— to which I would have laughed at the irony if I wasn't in such a bad mood from the so-called duel.

We were sitting in one of the small white-draped tables placed on the lawn of another section of the castle. This area had a number of similar tables set up with the familiars from yesterday roaming around without supervision. Siesta, having seen the entire duel, had filled me in saying this section was reserved for the second-year students who had summoned their familiars. Their classes had been put on hold so that they may spend the day with their newly acquired pets. I instead found it to the ideal place to talk given the amount of isolation this place had despite its intended use.

Simply, no student dared to come near me after witnessing my match with Guiche. That, and the white Jinni Sentinel sitting on the floor with its massive sword resting on its lap could still intimidate anyone who would come near. Those who had been unable to witness it due to their own reasons still kept their distance. The rumors of 'the Zero's Square Mage' spread like fire, much like how anything ever does in high school. I questioned how word traveled so well without the use of modern communication technologies.

_Magic, _I told myself.

Still, I didn't quite understand what it meant to be a Square Mage. I had a small theory but had to confirm it with either Louise or a professional magician. Louise said Guiche was a Dot Mage. Therefore, did it mean Dot Mages were the weakest while Square Mages were the strongest? Or were there other shapes in which define the potential of a magician?

Another thing that peeved me… Siesta. She had seen the duel and had witnessed my feats of magic. Not only that, but she had also heard my departing words from the child magicians. Ever since then, there was a great deal of fear in however she addressed me. I had never changed the way in which I spoke to her, but she continued to reply with calling me 'Sir' or 'Your Highness'.

Regardless, I _asked _her to bring my summoner and I a meal. But Siesta took it like an order and frantically ran to the kitchens with all haste. Louise had yet to have breakfast and I didn't like to curve my appetite with pure sunlight. Not to mention eating cake for breakfast— the snack which was going to be provided for the magicians and their familiars should they have gathered here— would have been terrible in health and appetite.

She had brought back, and this is no pun intended, a meal fit for a king. I held back a groan and stopped her before she was about to pour me a glass of what was obviously their finest wine by the way it sparkled _magically _in the sunlight. She shrieked and begged for my forgiveness, to which I couldn't hold back the groan any further.

From that started an endless cycle of her begging for forgiveness while I tried to maintain my sanity.

I had never forgotten about the teaching staff who had watched the duel. I had grown agitated they had yet to reveal themselves even as one of their students were about to be killed. There were sure to be a thousand reasons why they did not intervene, an endless amount of possibilities ranging from political to even prophetical, but their lack of presence other than observation irked me.

I unraveled their scry spell and raised a barrier of concealment so that no observation spell could see or hear our conversation. I had hoped by doing this _someone _would come out of their hiding hole to meet me— at least to hide in the shadows and spy on me personally. But nothing came as my detection weaves did not pick anything up. There was also a possibility the faculty wasn't powerful enough to deal with me and was waiting on officers or special force to deal with me. Just in case, I did not power-down from the duel. No matter how uncomfortable it was to contain such potential, it was a necessary precaution.

I bent three forks, snapped my knife in two, and had split two dishes into thirds as I was unable to maintain my physical control. You try doing everyday tasks with twenty-two times your normal strength. Nonetheless, I refused Siesta's insistence to bring me another plate. I _hate _wasting food, especially such ludicrously _expensive _meals.

It was by this point, nearly done with my breakfast, did Louise finally speak.

To which I retorted, "A Noble is one who is blessed by Founder Brimir, given the gift of magic, and has absolute authority over those who do not possess it." I put my fork down only to tap my finger irritably on the table instead. "Is this true, Louise?"

Louise, however, had not touched her meal in the slightest. Her complexion was pale as her eyes were red and puffy. She had not cried, but she had also been trying to hold it in. She looked to be someone who had done a terrible sin and was trying to comfort herself into falsely believing everything was going to be okay. I had seen that look before. In fact, I have experienced those feelings when I took my first life.

However she would expect no sympathy from me. If she can be upset over something as _shallow _as this, she had yet to learn her lesson.

She gave me one nod.

"Well then," I shrugged as I reached for my cup of tea. I refused any of the wine. One, because it was magically enhanced by a 'Water Mage', as Siesta told me; I have little idea what it would do to my body should I digest it. Two, I was still a few years below the legal drinking age back on Earth. "There you have it. I am not a Noble."

"But…" Louise rose out of her seat but found whatever words she was about to protest were lost. Rather, she didn't have the words to argue against me to begin with. She wanted to, but didn't know how.

I sipped my tea while waiting patiently for her to find those words. A good hardy stare from me seemed more than enough to motivate her. The porcelain cup did not shatter at my intense grip. Rather, perhaps because I was dealing with an object made of porcelain; my body already knew how to handle it. Ever since becoming a King, I had worked with synthesized porcelain countless times.

She fidgeted, sat back down in her seat, and spoke without directly looking at me. "But… You claimed to be a king. That couldn't have been a lie, was it? You performed Square-class magic without a wand. O-Only the Royal Family can perform Hexagon magic and magic without a wand is greatly reduced so I thought…"

Her eyes shifted over towards my idle Sentinel. The white and silver knight did not move in the slightest, though it knew it was being looked at by her.

Oh. So there's a Hexagon in this system now? What's next? Polygon magic?

Before I could put my tea down and provide a response, Louise's body went frigid. If she was pale then, she was ghastly white now as her eyes were wide through some epiphany. Cautiously, ever so slowly as if to not startle me, her gaze shifted from the corner of the table to meet mine. "Unless… Y-You're a F-Firstborn?"

In the corner of my eye I had noticed Siesta had gotten just as still. Her grip on the tray tightened enough for her knuckles to turn white. There was newfound fear coming from both of these two girls, worse than a Commoner would when confronted by a Noble.

"…I have no idea what that is," I dryly replied.

Louise gradually began to recollect herself. It was slow and took a few minutes. However, when she was ready to say more, she continued to keep her guard up. Her eyes narrowed in the slightest with skepticism. "…Firstborns are creatures such as elves and vampires, among other beasts and humanoid things either hiding or outside Halkegenia. Unlike mages like myself, their magic is that of the Firstborn— they control the spirits to do their bidding."

I wanted to snicker, but held it back. Elves and vampires. Among other beasts yatta, yatta, yatta. What a fun world this is. So, from what Louise just said, instead of the magicians of this world who use the planet's natural energies, these 'Firstborns' use some sort of higher being to influence nature rather than making it bend. Such as spirits who maintain the rules of nature such as wind, river flows, volcanic pressure, growth of plants, etc.

So, they were users of Nature magic. Well then…

"Based on your description, I am no such thing," I assured her with a nod.

"…Just like how you're not a Noble?"

I nodded a second time.

Louise shifted in her seat. Her face scrunched up in confusion as I could see the metaphorical gears turn in her head. "You are a mage, but you are not a Noble. You can perform Square-class magic without a wand but you say you are not a Firstborn. And you claim to be a king, yet, again, you claim to be no Noble."

I did not assure her, only rolled my wrist in a gesture for her to continue her thoughts.

To which she slammed her palms on the table and shouted, "Then what in Brimir's name are you?!"

"Different," was my _calm _answer, but I will not deny my brows furrowed at her tone. I had to remember she was just a child, soon to be a teenager, and didn't know quite well how to control her emotions. Also, my answer had been, quite possibly, the most accurate term I could have called myself.

These magicians use nothing but Lesser, possibly Higher magic. They forced the energies of the planet to fuel their spells— through foci no less! And Louise says magic is tremendously weaker without a wand… It meant these people _barely _knew anything about magic. I, on the other hand, knew _exactly _where my magic comes from as well as how to use it to its fullest potential. Their greatest spells could be my fundamentals. And it was from that large gap could I be seen as something so far advanced in spellcraft that I was beyond understanding.

Different was a good word.

I wasn't done. I cut off her retort by raising my left hand and exposing its back. Her eyes quickly moved over and traced the runes I was showing her. "…And apparently your familiar."

I let her swim in her emotions as I took the last bite of my breakfast. Louise fell into her seat as her eyes followed where I rested my hand on the table. Her face lost its complexion once more as she realized we had returned to the crucial point: she had summoned someone of political power.

I had not missed the thousand-yard-stare. She was recollecting the past twenty-four hours from all the things she tried to make me do to how she treated me since being summoned. As the silence stretched out, I saw her eyes gradually widen and jaw go slack.

I leaned forward in my chair. My tone becoming hard, "I'll make a deal with you, Vallière." Her eyes focused on me but she did not perk up. She believed I was going to do unspeakable evils to her to have my vengeance. Tempting as it was, no. "You have questions for me. I know nothing about this place since being summoned save for the building and its purpose. Let us deal with other matters after. For now, I shall ask you a question and I expect you to answer me to your fullest. In exchange, ask what you want and I shall do much the same. We shall do this until both our needs are met. As of this moment, you and I are strangers. We begin with a clean slate. Do you understand?"

"…Y-Yes, Sir—"

"Strangers, Louise," I reminded her as I leaned back for Siesta to clean up my mess and then serve me a piece of shortcake. This time I took a moment to increase the durability of my fork with a minor weave. "My name is Artemis."

She blinked and tilted her head as she thought about my words. She ended up nodding once after a moment.

"Now then," I paused to collect my thoughts. I had _finally _achieved what I wanted but now that I have it I'll admit I don't know where to begin. I suppose I would have to push all my curiosity aside and ask the absolute crucial questions. "I know what a familiar is— or at least enough. I can also fathom the sealing of the bond was through the incantation and by directly transferring your… whatever you call your magic energy through the kiss." She blushed. I ignored it and concluded, "My question is: what are these…?"

I raised the back of my hand once more. As soon as her kiss had been complete, some spell had used my own energies to fuel itself and etch runes into the back of my hand. By burning my flesh from the inside, no less. A normal spell would have burnt itself out by battling my resistances. However, this seemed like no mediocre spell if my own body had seen it as a part of itself during the inscribing process. Only my consciousness knew it didn't belong and it ended up with me battling my own body.

"Those are the familiar runes," she answered almost immediately. There had only been a small pause as her eyes lingered on what else the back of my hand had. "They're what bind the familiar to the mage, giving full obedience even against the most wild and ferocious of beasts. It is the direct link between them and the mage. Through it, we can command the familiar to perform tasks as though they were trained to do so and the mage can also look through the eyes of the familiar. Also, it compels the familiar to never betray the mage and to defend them from any harm."

Except, I don't do any of that. She couldn't force me to do anything, there was no direct link between us like how there were between the other students and their familiars, and if she so much as tried to look through my eyes I would expel her immediately. However, it would explain those earlier feelings for wanting to do something to the students who mocked Louise. I had felt an urge to smack them, not uncommon but also something I wouldn't do unless it was something serious like what Guiche tried to pull with Siesta.

I frowned. Though nowhere near strong enough for me to become 'obedient', the runes were trying to allure me into be in a good mood for her. It only irritated me further.

She wanted to ask about the winged tattoos on the back of my hand. She really did. I could see her eyes tracing around the geometric knots forming draconic wings around the runes. The marks that made up the Gift of Craft weren't normal tattoos after all. Normal tattoos don't _glow _in a dim light and move with my pulse.

Instead, she drove off her curiosity and asked something else. "Artemis… What are you? What are you _really_?"

"I meant it when I said I was a King," I began. My eyes closed as I thought of how to address this further. The explanation would take some time, so I drained the last of my tea to clear my throat. "However, I'm more than sure the concept of what it means to be a King differs from our worlds."

She scowled, almost glaring at me as if I was treating her like a fool.

"You summoned me from another world, Louise," my tone was serious and sharp. I reset my face to neutrality before she misunderstood my intent. "Now, here with the status of Nobility and the Royal Family, there is no doubt you people have a king and queen in your system. Those are monarchs in which rule by blood and because, what was it Siesta, they are direct descendants of Founder Brimir?"

"Y-Yes, sir," Siesta jumped, believing I had forgotten about her this whole time.

I frowned at Siesta's programmed response but went back to the magician in front of me. "Louise, I have a kingdom I rule over and defend its borders, I have… _citizens _to rule, watch, and guide, and I have a position of power to make the rules and to enforce them however I see fit. However, that does not mean I am the same thing as the Royal Family of your world."

Her brows were so scrunched together they were beginning to twitch. She looked so horrendously confused. I wonder if that's what I looked like when all of this was explained to me.

"I am one of the five Kings of Ilyvander. In my world, the title of King is _taken _by one who stands highest in the pinnacle of power. They are the absolute most powerful and _cannot _be challenged by anyone. Those who have obtained such powers hardly care about the matters of the state because they usually ascend to more… otherworldly affairs. However, the lesser tend to flock towards these unfathomable beings and try to be in their best of graces. Kings have been seen as gods, rulers, heroes, and the like since the earliest recordings of Ilyvander. But never once has a King actually been a monarch."

She grimaced. "So you're not really a monarch, just a barbarian conqueror."

I shook my head. "No, Louise. My power is my own and I have earned the title of King, but at the same time it was given to me through a highly complex conspiracy… that went wrong on their end, anyways. Also, no King in my world is a conqueror. To be a conqueror would mean one has conquered something, wouldn't it?"

"Hmph," Louise pressed her lips together. "Because the people 'flock' together like moths to a flame? It's still a position of you having a power that says 'bow to me or else'."

I couldn't hold back the bitter smile. "You see, Louise…" I picked up the teacup once more but never pressed it to my lips. I had also forgotten I had emptied it. I suppose I had done it just to distract myself. "My world is dead. Sure there is life, but it is false. The world consists of homunculi, spirits, abominations, lingering residue of the previous world, and…"

My eyes shifted over to the Sentinel. In return, the faceless Jinni turned its head towards my direction like an eager pup happy to have its master's attention.

It sickened me. Barely born and already it was so desperate for my love. And I had an entire kingdom filled with millions of them. One of the many flaws of this Sorcery.

"I am no ruler like that of your Royal Family," I returned to Louise. "My role is the same, but I don't rule over people with individualities. I _program _things mimicking human personalities to carry out their duties until they burn out. They have intelligence, if it can be called that, but they lack the core of what makes it a self-thinking being. They can act like you or Siesta, can smile and frown just the same, can react to situations of any sort— but they cannot… _imagine. _They can only do what they already know. Optimizing, never creating.

"I am a King. But I am not a lawmaker. I am a creator, their foster father to the older generation and real father of the next generation I have crafted since taking the position. I am Godking Dalang, Artemis James Philips; Lord of the Djinn."

_Dalang. _It was… Arabic, if I remember. It was also the closest Earth language my father spoke before he was a summoned Champion on Ilyvander. That's right… he _wasn't _originally from Ilyvander. On Earth, it meant Puppeteer. But its meaning from whatever place my father came from wasn't too far off.

Doll Maker.

"…Godking?" Louise asked with obvious distaste in her tone. She wouldn't be the first. Many people back on Earth who participated in the Godking's Rite had condemned the Djinn and my father for being heretical.

I let Louise soak in the information. She had another question on the tip of her tongue, but I raised her hand to cut her off. I could already guess what she was going to ask as she was staring intently at my Sentinel. It was my turn to ask a question, however. At the same time, Siesta refilled my cup and topped it with a fresh lemon slice.

"The Springtime Familiar Ritual is to, obviously, summon one's familiar. Since you doubt I come from another world, I'm assuming _most _familiars come from all over the globe instead. And, guessing from the way your peers look at you to how you react to them, you were trying to summon something to prove them wrong. I was once your age too, you know, and not that long ago.

"Guessing from how everyone believes you botched the summoning, or perhaps couldn't do it to begin with, and had to hire someone to play the part of your familiar, I'm assuming summoning a human is unheard of. Don't answer— that's not the question. Rather, to get to the point, what will you do with me now that I am bound to you? You were expecting a pet, and treated me like one, but instead ended up with another human being like yourself who has his own opinion and freewill."

I closed my eyes, leaned back, and cupped my hands close to my chest as I awaited her reply. I kept my face neutral so to not influence her answer. I wanted to hear what she really wanted, not to appease to me because I was a magician of higher aptitude.

"I… I don't know…"

I opened my eyes, only to find her head bowed with her bangs covering her eyes. She didn't seem able to respond after that.

I sighed. "I have a follow-up question, then. What will you do if I found a way to remove the bond—"

"You can't!" Louise shrieked, stood, and slammed her hands onto the table before I could finish the second half of my question. She was not outraged, for once. Instead, this was the look of a defeated and desperate girl who had been threatened her last prized possession was about to slip through her grip. Someone who had _nothing _except the smallest speck of hope— a flame doomed to die out at the smallest disturbance.

"You…" she bowed her head again as she slowly sank back into her chair. "You're… You're _my _familiar…"

…It would seem I was wrong in my assumptions. Spoiled? Oh, she still was. But she was not rotten. She understood the value of things. Riches and pleasantries of the highest kind were given to her, but there in that was the problem. They were _given _to her.

Summoning me might have been her crowning achievement. She could have summoned her intended pet, perhaps even something as small and insignificant as a housefly, and Louise would have the same reaction. It was something she had achieved by her own, not something given to her. And by the looks of her desperation, it might have been the _only _thing she had gained on her own.

Suddenly, her personality made sense to me. There never was a rotten girl who believed she stood higher than everyone else. Here was a girl who flaunted her so-called superiority because she was afraid of losing her moment and didn't know how to hold on to it. And how could she? It was much like chasing a life-long dream. Once you achieve it, what do you do next?

This girl was broken and constantly stepped on. She was at the absolute bottom of the tier. To her peers, she was hardly anything other than something to mock for fun. And she didn't have the means to defend herself against them. She was a pretty face with a pedigree, but nothing to her name. Nothing.

A Zero.

I blinked as now I saw the meaning behind her nickname.

I asked Siesta to leave us. She nodded in understanding and went back to the staff facilities. I also commanded the Sentinel to leave us, though there was no point as it had sentience but no intelligence to hold a conversation. Nonetheless, its presence was similar to a human's. What Louise needed was a moment to be alone.

"Louise… You need to learn to stand on your own," I began. She didn't lift her head. No one would. These were not words of comfort. "At one point I _must _return home. I could never be your familiar."

"But… I…"

Another sigh, I put down the tea before I could drink it. "Be that as it may, I have no problems taking the time to assist you on your progress."

Slowly, her head rose.

One of the most important rules when Travelling— possibly _the _most important— was to never influence the affairs of another world. For example, one does not Travel to a world where swords are still used and start handing out guns to one specific country. What I was offering was something similar and just as potentially dangerous. I might have a Guardian on my ass any second now just for proposing it.

My example was spot-on because it was exactly how it was. These people use foci and nothing save for species of the Fae could use wandless magic at full potential. I could do that and _more._

Or I could just be full of myself. She could be decent with her magic and her peers might just be putting her down because of her age or some other stupid teenage reason. She might not even need my help and I'm just painting a target on myself for no reason.

"…At least until you learn to stand up for yourself," I concluded after that dreadfully long pause.

"You mean…" hope filled her eyes. "You'll teach me your magic?"

"Oh good God _no_!" The sheer idea of teaching her how to weave would definitely get a Guardian to appear and kill me where I sat. That was several tiers above her world's magic, even according to those Firstborn's.

Plus, I have no idea if my magic can be taught. I'm not willing to try either.

I coughed to clear my throat as well as to settle my nerves. "I'm saying I know a lot about magic and have leagues of research in several fields. My magic is far too different for you to be able to comprehend and it would mean I would have to teach you things to teach you other things, to teach you other things, to teach you _other _things and it will go on for about ten more times until you're ready to _begin _to practice it."

Not necessarily a lie… but it was an extreme exaggeration at the same time.

"My next question," Louise blurted out before I could continue. "How were you able to perform Square-class magic? I don't want to hear the theories. I want to know why you can use such high-level spells without a wand. I don't believe you are from another world. I'm only assuming you come from a far off land unheard of— probably beyond the Rub'al Khali desert and possess heretical magic not of the Brimir faith."

I shouldn't be surprised to be called a heretic (or that she didn't believe me). I was given the title of Godking, after all. But for my magic to be heretical? Now that kinda hurt…

"My magic…?" I couldn't help but look up at the afternoon sun at this question. My Spirit had long replenished itself and was keeping a stable flow as I continued to channel the spells and wards I put up during this little chat. The sun continued to shine, granting me a sort of warmth indescribable. Oh yes, the sun is warm, no duh. Any creature would know that.

But to me, the sun was something more. Its rays filled me with a feeling I could never explain. Love? Hope? Passion? None of these things, but something extremely similar.

I also took the time to ponder on how to address this matter. I knew she was curious. I was just as much regarding this world's magic. I wanted to see how much it had progressed and if there was anything different at all. This seemed to be an entire worldwhich revolved on who had the greater magic, with those leading having the most potent. There was just the matter on how to begin this long-winded elaboration.

"My magic derives from the sun," I began. "The energy from its rays is something we call Spirit…"

And so began a basic thesis lecture on the fundamentals of my magic system to a girl who was more eager to hear about it than I had been. She absorbed everything like a sponge and at times when something was too hard for her to understand she would ask the occasional question or requested for me to specify a little better. She accepted my magic was, indeed, different (but continued to use the word heretical). I could also see the hope in her eyes that she could learn it, though I doubt she ever could.

I talked about Spirit. I talked about weaving. I talked about the different styles of magic and techniques I acquired from my Djinn.

I told her I was an Archmage, one who directly bends the direct world.

And then I told her I was also a Sorcerer, one who directly _defies _the direct world.

The discussions regarding my two Sorceries— Doll Maker and Reverse— went on as she took in as much knowledge as she possibly could.

*Scene*

Well, I would have to say the last day and a half was… entertaining. Not a single moment was boring. Since the day before, as Louise and I continued to chat at the tables, we learned a lot about each other. I learned she was the third and youngest daughter of Duke and Duchess Vallière. Her mother was once renowned and feared as Karin the Heavy Wind during her service in the Tristain military and is confirmed to be the most powerful Wind mage in all of Tristain's history. Her father… had no such outstanding credentials; but the two had married for love, at least.

Her father was also the previous king's brother, making Louise a princess. However, she fully rejected— blurted out with swinging fists more like— that she was no such thing. Regardless, I pointed out that she _did _have blood of the Royal Family and should, in theory, be able to cast this so-called Hexagon magic.

Louise was quiet for a while after that.

I also learned her little anti-magic attack from the night before had been an attempted silencing spell. Even I was completely baffled by this. The spell should have made me mute, but instead _somehow _turned into a high-grade translation spell. Rather than me speaking and understanding the Not-French of Tristanian, Louise's words were in French— the last language I spoke to her with— while she heard I was speaking in her native tongue. I switched out and spoke in English and German. The results were the same; Louise's words were responded in the respective languages without her noticing the difference.

And then there was the anti-magic property of her fluke of a spell. I told her I put up a magic defense barrier and it shattered with no resistance. Anti-magic _can't _under any circumstances mix itself in with _magic. _They're like oil and water. Yet, somehow, Louise had been able to do just that when she struck me with an anti-magic brick.

Until I learned more about the magic of this world, I wouldn't be able to give her a proper theory.

The next few hours after that were spent chatting about miscellaneous things. I learned about Tristain, its neighboring countries, the rebellion in the _floating _isle of Albion, and about the elves across the Rub'al Khali desert. At the same time, I indulged her curiosity by telling her about some of the Djinn families in my kingdom. I told her about the Bladeworks, Tailor, Carnage, Cleric, Baker, Pyro, and Brewer families. When asked if I had any families responsible for the research and development of magic, I told her about the two most prestigious: the Alyse and Rose families.

And it's not because both _my _Alyse and Rose were members of their respective families. Why, that would insinuate I have favorites.

I don't have such a luxury. My girls would murder my 'favorite' as soon as one popped up and call it an unfortunate accident, even if I was watching them dig their knives into her back.

Moving on, by the time we were satisfied with each other's stories, it was time to have dinner at the Alviss Hall. I wasn't eager to return there, but at the same time was anticipating it. I removed all my wards and powered-down my magic to its bare minimum as soon as I entered the hall. Naturally, the students kept their distance from us. Louise didn't seem to be bothered by this, but instead found this to be a nice change of pace. I couldn't understand as they were isolating her more than usual, but perhaps she was just glad they weren't ridiculing her for once. Things will have to change before this isolation loses its splendor.

My anticipations were crushed. Evening came and still not a single member of the faculty approached me. Surely for being such a prestigious academy for the next generation of those who will rule over Tristain the academy would have some sort of security. But there was nothing. No teachers and no guards.

I did not miss the scrying spell, however. Two times I unraveled it without so much as having to look at it. But by the third time when I was walking Louise back to her room, I had grown tired. I spun and glared directly into the supposedly undetectable spell. It was invisible and carried no traces of magical interference, but my eyes through the String World had picked up pattern changes in the world. I was getting annoyed the only thing those in charge were doing was observing me.

Looking directly through the scrying spell so that the bearded old man knew I was staring back at him, I raised my hand and unraveled his work. It was meant to challenge him to meet me face-to-face.

After that, I left Louise by herself and told her I would return to wake her up, for sure this time, at dawn for her classes. She insisted I stay in her room and would have asked to bring a mat for me to lie in other than the hay. I argued against it, saying it wouldn't be right for me to stay in the same room as her. I would find my own accommodations. But I didn't leave her without protection. I wove a few wards when she wasn't paying attention in the chance the faculty would dare to come to her first before approaching me.

I found Guiche returning from the Alviss Hall to head to his dormitories. I grabbed him by his collar, didn't bother addressing him, and dragged him back down the stairwell. Literally dragged him. He had been furious at someone doing this to him, but then screamed like a little girl when he found out that someone was _me. _His hand was in a brace and there was a wrapping of bandages around his neck where I had pricked him with Solstice.

I found a random maid, named Clarissa, and told her Guiche was to assist the help in _anything_ they had to do and that he was not to take any breaks or be relieved of his duties until midnight. Guiche protested, spewing some nonsense about how someone like him shouldn't stoop so low as to perform the tasks of the Commoners.

Solstice appeared in my grip. The shimmering blade that had tasted his blood got him to shut up and comply. Good. As extra measures, I told the maid to come to me should Guiche misbehave. The poor girl had been so frightened about instructing a Noble on what to do that she had almost refused my request.

I replied that if he had no use then I might as well kill him. Both Guiche and Clarissa screamed in equally high-pitch tones. They got the picture and hurried away.

I ran into Siesta a bit later, started a small chat with her, and quickly found out the laundry she was carrying in her basket belonged to Louise. It started an argument. I had offered to bring it to Louise's room for Siesta but she insisted she should do it herself because it was her _job. _And she muttered more nonsense about me being a King and not needing to do this and that. But I _insisted, _stole the basket out of her grip, and ran off before she could stop me.

It wasn't until I was around the corner of Louise's room did I run into the most obscure and awkward roadblock. I'm not saying the giant red lizard with a flame-lit tail was the roadblock. No, I'm saying the events that followed after this creature tackled me and began to drag me to the den of its master were awkward.

I didn't fight it because I had seen this familiar the day before. Therefore, this was just something one of the students was trying to pull, more than likely one of Guiche's friends who thought they could get the drop on me or whatever. So I went along with it… while still holding on to the laundry basket.

The lizard dragged me to a dark room lit only by candlelight. Before I could so much as stand, the door was shut and the flames of the candles suddenly grew just a little brighter.

Her name was Kirche von Zerbst the Ardent, as she introduced herself while lying in an obscene pose on her bed. Tan skin, neon red hair, cat-like gold eyes, an hourglass figure, a savory smile, and dressed in exotic underwear I didn't think this world knew yet how to make. She gave quite the winded speech about how she was so moved by my feats of strength against Guiche, how she burned for me, how she… so on and so forth.

My brows were twitching the entire time. Her words were _cute, _but they were shallow, hollow, and would die out by the morning. I had heard all of this in high school. It had been sweet and a boost to my ego, but that was when I was younger. Though I'm not that much older, I have no interest in a one-night-stand like what she was trying to pull. I had something special back home and I didn't want to step on it with things like this.

That, and something like this was something only Lolifor would have gone along with. And I _refuse _to be anything like the little turd.

I made sure to keep the basket between the two of us.

So before she could finish her still rambling speech, I declined her offer to 'burn our passions together' or whatever it was she said. I told her I wasn't interested. But still she persisted, crossing her arms under her bust to plump them up. She was skilled and knew what to do in order to draw the attention of any warm-blooded male. It only made me more sick. So I tried a little harder and told her _she _wasn't interesting. She was left in such a state of shock she accused me of swinging for the other team. My only reply was to say I like modesty over… well, I didn't say exactly what it was. One appraising glance at what she was wearing was the only clue.

I left after that.

Dropping off the laundry while Louise was sleeping and checking the status of my wards, I shrugged and decided to spend the rest of the night with the help until I could find accommodations for myself.

Never found them. I ended up helping Siesta until midnight and then napping down by the same tree as before while my Sentinel sat beside me. As instructed, at what could only be assumed to be four in the morning, it stirred me awake with a mental alarm clock.

And then twenty minutes later…

"GET UP GUICHE!" I kicked open the Noble's door, forcing both him and his familiar mole to jump in surprise. It wasn't very hard to find him with a simple weave and plus a drip of his blood had touched Solstice. But let it be known I am considerate. I made a few wards to block off excessive noise so that no one else sleeping in the hall would awake.

I pulled him out of bed, made him get dressed, and dragged him by his collar once more all the way to the staff facilities. I wanted to make this as humiliating as possible.

Without the modern technologies of Earth, meals had to be prepared hours in advance. I had ordered my Sentinel to wake me as soon as it noticed the staff starting to get the day ready. I had no idea they started so damn early though. All the better for Guiche though, I suppose.

We met with the head-chef, a broad shouldered man with a kept beard… with a name I couldn't possibly pronounce despite my fluency in French. He knew exactly who I was by first glance and immediately started to praise me for being someone of worth standing up to Nobles for the Commoners. It would seem Siesta had been talking…

Nonetheless, I requested of Martou— Marthou— Marteau— Matou— fudge it, _Martin _if Guiche could work in the kitchens and serve breakfast to all of his peers. Guiche argued he didn't want to be seen among the serving staff by his fellow students. I reminded Guiche his opinion didn't hold any value. Martin laughed at this idea and said it would be a splendid idea. He put the boy to work immediately. I like this man already.

I helped them for a few hours, and then left the scene to wake Louise like I promised. There had been no activity from the wards I set up, which meant no one other than I had crossed them. It was both good and bad. Good because no one had tried anything with Louise. Bad because, well, no one had tried anything. I was beginning to wonder if the faculty even cared about their students.

Louise was a difficult child. She tossed and turned a few times, snoozed a few minutes, and then got out of bed grumbling incoherent insults towards me. Still half asleep, her half-open eyes gazed up at me without any recognition. She brushed it off muttering something about me _just _being her familiar. She then ordered me to dress her while yawning at the same time.

I made sure to make a weave to keep any noise locked inside the room first. Picking up a pair of panties, because Louise is one of those weird ones who sleep with nothing underneath, I held them out for her to slip into. One leg at a time as she held onto my shoulders, and then I slowly lifted them up her legs.

And _pulled._

Her scream would have woken the dead had I not silenced the room… but I should have done the same to my ears. I forgot the shrill of a young girl could shatter glass.

"You awake yet, Louise?" I asked with a dead stare as she had been lifted up to my height.

She couldn't say anything as gravity was now her worst enemy.

I put her down and we had a talk about her new morning routine. Rather, I was the one talking, she was the one throwing things at me. We went over from now on I would wake her but she would have to pamper and dress herself. She argued it was the duty of a familiar to obey the master and as such I should dress her when told to. It would seem the events of yesterday had already slipped her mind.

This time I threatened to go to the library and take a leak on some of the more expensive books. Because, _as her familiar, _I'm just a dog who doesn't know any better. She called my bluff and so I just turned away and started to head for the door. Dread filled her and she grabbed my arm and said she understood.

The idea had reminded me that there wasn't any indoor plumbing installed in the castle. I had to do my business in a room very much like a port-a-potty, where I go inside a waste bin and after a certain amount of time the staff empties it… wherever they dispose of waste. It was gross and very unhygienic. But it also made me wonder how other needs were met, such as washing, brushing teeth, and especially bathing. I could get away with it now and then with a few weaves… but I don't think Louise took a bath yesterday and she didn't seem willing to do so today…

So I asked when her last bath was. Her response was to throw a chair at me and to mind my own business. I pressed further and told her she needed to take a bath; it wasn't healthy for her to go so long without one (especially in these backwater times). She argued with she _did _take more baths than most of the girls at the academy.

…Once a week.

The sheer grossness made me shiver. I couldn't speak. Instead, I pulled the sheets off her bed, used them to cover her, and turned it into a makeshift sack as I hoisted her over my shoulder. She fought and shouted at me to release her and said taking too many baths so frequently wasn't healthy, that it opened the pores and let disease inside.

Victorian hygiene logic… gross.

A question to Kirche who was starting to leave her room, I quickly found the indoor bathhouse located at the bottom floor in the western wing. And, my God, it was ridiculous in size. It was more like an indoor Olympic pool with hot water pouring out of statues and the floors decked with polish marble.

My brows twitched. These people _did _have indoor plumbing but only used it for filtering the bath. Which is a good idea. But if only they used it for everything else…

Without warning, I swung the sack, opened it, and used the momentum to fling Louise into the bath. Before she could argue with me, I wove her mouth shut and told her to wash up. I would return with her clothes shortly and I won't remove the weave until she was spotless.

A few hours later, I found the morning's events to be pointless. She and I were coated in soot.

My assumptions on why the students call Louise 'the Zero' had been correct, with more information to add into it. Not only was Louise the bottom of the tier of popularity with her class (possibly the entire school altogether), but she was at the bottom of her performances as well. Louise was brilliant, and had been able to answer any question the professors had in the classes I followed her into. But her spellwork had been lacking.

Case and point: when she had attempted to transmute a simple rock into copper, the rock exploded, sending fragments in every direction, and the concussion force of the spell knocked the observing professor senseless. It was so strong the desk the rock had been on had split into several chunks and the shockwave shattered the glass windows. Louise stood unharmed with the exception of her body coated with soot and her clothes in tatters, barely covering her modesty. Perhaps her own magic couldn't harm her, though I wonder how she had been able to avoid the fragments and splinters of wood flying everywhere.

Even I should have listened to the students who had 'warned' the professor. I say this as I pluck a few fragments of the shattered rock out of my Craven magic hardened skin. At first I thought they were just mocking her and putting her down much like how most bullies do to the unpopular kid. They even ducked for cover behind their desks in unison. My only clue something was about to go wrong was seeing a blue-haired student who had never said a word of ridicule get up and walk out the door.

Mrs. Chevreuse, the professor in charge of the Earth magic lecture, was taken to the healing quarters while Louise was instructed by another professor to clean up the mess she caused. She accepted responsibility without her normal fuss, which meant she had done this more than enough times to fall into a routine. She went straight to the door in the back of the room and pulled out a mop and bucket.

As Louise and I (and Guiche, whom I forced to remain) cleaned up the soot and moved the chunks of wood to a pile for me to weave back together— _ugh_— I thought about the professors so far. Mrs. Chevreuse knew nothing about me and asked who I was when she first arrived into the classroom. Louise said I was her familiar, the students argued I was some dishonored Noble Louise swindled into her services, Louise argued back, and I just assured the teacher I was someone tutoring Louise and came to the class to inspect how far her studies have gone. The professor accepted my reasons without question— not a trace of doubt. And the professor who had told Louise to stay and clean barely gave me a moment's glance just to notice my presence.

It made me wonder why the faculty was treating the incident with Guiche like it had never happened.

Nothing else happened for the rest of that day. I couldn't give Louise any theories as to why her spell backlashed like that. It wasn't because of too much energy or because she had done the spell incorrectly. From what my eyes could pick up, she had mimicked the professor's actions down to the letter. When asked, Louise provided me with the theory behind the transmutation process, so she obviously knew what she was doing.

I told her to give me some time to study her _different _magic. And different it was. I had thought since I use Archmagic and they use Lesser and/or Higher magic my techniques were too far advanced and seen as something alien. But no, the magicians of this world rely on a _completely _different branch of magic I've never thought possible.

Elemental casting, but still relying on the principles of Lesser and Higher categories. Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and the mysterious Void. It reminds me of the Wiccan practice back on Earth, but I knew next to nothing of that field so I can't say anything. However, it gets complicated as magicians can stack elements together in order to amplify their spells or create new types. A Dot mage can only use one element. A Line mage can use two. Triangle, three. Square, four. And, from what Louise tells me, Hexagon can cast _multiple _elements.

But it gets more confusing because a Line mage can stack Fire and Fire together to make an even bigger spell. At the same time they can stack Water and Wind to make Ice. _Apparently, _the transmutation of dirt into bronze, molding it into a six and a half feet tall soldier, and controlling it like a puppet was _only _a Dot class spell. In all, it made me want to find the nearest table and flip it.

Louise and I ended up staying late into the night going over what theories we could so that I could understand the limits and potentials of this world's magic. Eventually she fell asleep on her desk while I was distracted with the notes I had been taking. I tucked her into bed and slid out the door, sinking into a chair at the library a few minutes later and going over the several sheets. Several theories and scenarios were written down, but none of them I could confirm without Louise or the knowledge _that I can't read _surrounding me.

It didn't stop me from coming up with some ideas for Louise to try out though. I stayed there working until it was time to fetch Guiche.

*Scene*

Which finally leads us to the present.

"Day of the Void?" I questioned as Louise and I shared some teatime in the courtyard between the main entrance and the Water tower. My Sentry sat at my side with its sword resting on its lap just like the other day I created it. And much the same way, it eagerly awaited my command.

Louise nodded before sipping her tea. "That's right. There aren't any classes today. Most of the students spend today relaxing or catching up on their studies. However, I want to spend today going to the capital and do some much-needed shopping." Her head bowed as she added with a bitter smile, "I only have two pairs of uniforms left because of yesterday…"

I looked up at the sky and gazed at the still early sun. "Huh. Had I known I'd probably let the fruitcake sleep in this morning. Yes, he's not used to this kind of work so some rest would have been good for him. But at the same time he gets off easily for having to do not as much work with all the other kids sleeping in till the afternoon. He doesn't have to worry about the breakfast rush."

I don't know why, but the tea tasted that much better after saying those words.

"You… are vicious," said Louise.

"I'm not one to forgive his enemies so easily," I replied. "At the same time I'm surprised everyone else is going along with this. The staff tells me he's been compliant other than the occasional complaint and predictable smock. He whines a lot, but does as he's told. But I'm more concerned none of the professors have said anything. A student was almost killed and they pretend nothing happened."

"I think if word gets out that a member of the Gramont house was defeated by a Noble without a house there will be political backlash on the academy itself," said Louise. "And it'll be even worse if the Gramonts learn you are a mage from another country— a very powerful one who has infiltrated Tristain and has made the academy his residence. And who knows what will happen if they find out you're my familiar. Not only would the Gramonts attack the academy but… Mother…"

Louise shivered.

"In the end they're just protecting themselves," I summed up before downing my tea. "Pointless. Sooner or later word will get out. Teenagers talk. The academy might be able to control the flow of mail and edit some of the letters, but eventually the students will return to their families during vacations and holidays. And once that happens, it's only a matter of time."

Louise nodded before finishing her tea. A maid, named Tiffany, had cleared up our table as we were getting ready to depart.

"I'll meet you at the stables," I told Louise as I began to return to the dormitory building. "I've got something I need to do first."

Louise already knew what I was talking about. "Now what are you going to make him do?"

"Feeling worried about him, Louise?" I teased.

Her face flushed as pink as her hair. She crossed her arms, turned her face away, and countered, "Like I would ever be worried over the fop! I just wanted to know!"

I stopped pacing so that I could answer her without having to shout. "Part of the conditions was for him to apologize to everyone he's wronged. I'm going to have him make me a list. And I expect it to be complete by the time we return or I shall have my Sentinel chase him until he finishes it! Run while he writes! Let it be known that I, Artemis James Philips, _can _be merciful to my enemies!"

Louise said nothing. She was too busy holding her face with her palm.

*Scene*

I hate horses. When growing up, my father taught Iris and I how to ride them. We had done so at least once a month for no reason other than to have this piece of knowledge etched into our skulls. Iris had been good at it. Me? No horse has ever loved me.

Take Mercedes for example, the steed given to me by Louise for the trip to the Tristanian capital city. According to Louise, Mercedes was one of her favorite horses from the stables with her just as loveable counterpart, Edmund. Now, both horses might love Louise but that doesn't mean they love me just the same. And no matter how friendly Louise claimed them to be, dear Mercedes hardly listened to a thing I tried to make it do.

In short, the _three hour _trip had not been fun. If not for some healing magic, I would have been too sore to walk with how many times Mercedes bucked and threw me off of her. Louise said it was very strange, for even some of the more annoying Noble students who agitated the horses with their ignorance didn't stir as much of a reaction from Mercedes as I had. She also said I knew what I was doing, which she found stranger and couldn't place why Mercedes was misbehaving so badly.

Yeah, well, maybe the problem I have with horses is the same one Louise has with her magic.

I was more than glad we were able to leave them by a caretaker at the front gate. Louise paid the man the fee and we were off to explore the city. I won't miss you Mercedes. Not in the slightest.

The capital city of Tristain… I wasn't sure what to make of it. All of the buildings were elegant and had a sort of sophistication of architecture similar to Napoleon era France. At the same time, there were slight differences here and there, nothing I could ever put into words, but small things my eyes picked up from the way the tiles were laid out, to the doorframes, to the windows, and so on. I was in a different world, I reminded myself.

There were three layers from what I could tell. First, the outer layer of the city consisted of the peasants, traveling merchants with their stands, and plenty of city guards in chain mails and pikes. One would think the best way to draw attention was to have a more… rich environment at the entrance of the city, right? The second layer, which was the one we were going to, consisted of the middle-class individuals who could afford their own housing and businesses. This was a ring which contained restaurants, special services, government offices, entertainments, and a range between bachelor pads, to apartments, to inns, to humble-sized homes.

A few bridges separated this layer from the entrance layer with guards at attention. One look at Louise and her academy pendant and the both of us were let inside. Even I wasn't stopped as the guard gave me the same look. Though my fashion was different than that of a Tristanian, I was still better dressed than anyone else from the first layer.

And up ahead, which was hard to miss at this point, was the final layer of the city. In there was the layer in which I could only assume the Nobility stayed. I could see their towering manors, mansions, and let's not forget the colossal _castle _over the hill. I'm sure someone like Louise would be able to squeeze through, being a Vallière and all. But I doubt I would be able to get through without her.

The city was also compact with narrow streets and buildings stacking on top of other buildings, giving it the illusion that it was crowded. Well, according to Louise the city was crowded. I could hardly walk down the main road— the largest road in all the city, Louise says— without bumping shoulders with another person.

I caught two children trying to pickpocket me with the excuse of the crowd at fifteen minute intervals. I patted them on the head and told them to try harder next time. Stealing is wrong— not necessarily. Stealing something you don't _need _is wrong. I can't condemn another person for stealing out of desperation. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything to offer them. I was lucky enough to enter this world with my shoes.

The only things I could come here with were my clothes, my tuning gloves, a strange watch made by the Clockwork family (which I never learned how to read), and a ball-point pen from Earth. And I was very glad for the pen. Having to write with a quill and ink is a pain.

Did I also mention the city was dirty? Garbage littered the street, horse dung as well, and there was no sewage system designed so the smell of _liquids _lingered the area. And this was coming from the 'cleaner' second-district. But at least the guards were making rounds by sweeping away all the beggars into the alleys or outright arresting them. Can't have people who have lost everything, dirty and hungry from neglect, show up and ask for help now can we?

I was already hating this place.

Eventually we made our way to a small tailor shop with a wooden sign hung by the door with the symbol of a needle with thread and scissors. A nice chime from a small bell hanging by the door rang in announcement of our arrival. There were three clerks present— two of which were already busy with other customers. The third, a young man who moved so slowly from what could be exhaustion but rather was really boredom, approached us and began assisting Louise with her demands of ordering new uniforms. At the mentioning of her name, the clerk perked up and went to the back to fetch the uniforms conveniently already tailored in her size.

I could only imagine Louise must have done this a little too frequently…

"Hm?" my head turned away from one of the suits modeled on a mannequin. "Sorry, Louise. Could you repeat that?"

"I know you heard me," she scowled. Her hands tucked under her chest as she looked away as though I had agitated her greatly. "I said present yourself to the tailor to be fitted. I can't have you running around wearing the same clothes as when I summoned you. They must be filthy by now. Be a good familiar and accept your master's gift."

"…Uh huh…" Instead, I turned back to the suit. It was definitely something no Commoner would be able to afford. Hell, it would have taken me a long while to afford something like this when I was working as a grocer. I don't know the value of the currency of this world, but it was obvious this was pretty expensive by the stitches and the materials used.

When you live as dirt poor as I have, you learn to make your own clothes.

"Um, sir!" the clerk helping us only slightly raised his voice in an attempt to stop me from removing the jacket from the mannequin. But a somewhat louder voice and raised hand wasn't going to do anything. "That's for display purposes only."

"Oh I could have guessed," I mused as my fingers rubbed the tip of the collar. Cotton and polyester. And if I recalled, the cotton gin wouldn't be invented for a few hundred years, which meant cotton was a rather valuable material. But polyester? Polyester is a synthesized material. How in the world—

_Magic, _Artemis. Magic.

"S-Sir," the clerk stood beside me and began explaining (pleading) as though he were reading my thoughts. "This is one of our finest makes with materials brewed by a Germanian alchemist. It's also one of a kind. So could you please—"

I didn't get to hear the rest of it as he screamed like a little girl. Why? Because I began to slowly tear the coat down the middle. The ripping of its fibers made a lovely sound. Alas, the clerk could not share my appreciation as he had passed out then and there.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Louise wasn't the only one to shout those words. A thin-framed man with spectacles, who I could only assume to be the owner, had shouted those words. I was surprised. I didn't think someone as frail-looking as him had it in him to shout at such roaring levels.

I smiled and feigned innocence, "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a familiar. I'm not responsible for my own actions. If you wish to file a complaint, please speak to my _master. _She's the one in charge of me."

"A-Artemis, this isn't funny!" Louise shouted as she pulled out her wand and pointed it at me. She tried to threaten me with her magic, but I knew she would never cast a spell without covering all the fabrics with soot or blowing out a few windows. "I can't afford to buy that!"

"Ms. Vallière," the elder man moved away from his clients to approach the girl. "Is this hoodlum your servant?"

I didn't think the word 'hoodlum' was in the vocabulary of the Victorian era. But then again, this wasn't Earth and it might have been the translation spell working its magic. I haven't heard anyone speak in old lingo or sayings yet. Most of the conversations were similar to what I've had in Earth.

Louise turned from me, to the clerk, to me, to the clerk, and so on for a few more times as her eyes got wider and wider by the passing seconds. "H-H-He… I-I… W-Well…"

I sighed and pulled out my pen from my pocket. "Louise, from now on my actions will get worse and worse for each time you call me your familiar. I'm no longer giving you the warning. And to answer your question, good sir, I am an instructor in the service of Louise de la Vallière. I am assisting her in her studies as well as her lessons in _politesse. _With the lesson learned, I shall repair your merchandise."

The man gave me a skeptical look. I pulled up the coat with one hand while I traced the tear with my pen, keeping two of my fingers placed at the tip. I couldn't possibly use my pen as a catalyst. But I couldn't be seen using wandless magic else be driven out of town by pitchforks and torches for being mistaken as a Firstborn. The effect I wanted was made, regardless. A simple repairing weave placed every fiber that had been torn back together while making it look like my pen (a device I hope they had never seen before) was my wand.

With the deed done, I hung the coat back onto the mannequin, stepped over the fainted young man, and approached the two.

The man still gave me an angry look, which was understandable. He grumbled, "Seeing as you've taken responsibility, and since Ms. Vallière has been a regular client for a while, I will look over this. I should charge you a fee for disrupting my business or making my apprentice faint. _Don't do it again._"

He turned back around and returned to the customers he was working with prior. Louise gave me what she thought to be a death-glare, but she was far too inexperienced and adorable for me to be frightened by her. I could only give her a light smile and told her the next time I would embarrass _her _rather than bringing in outsiders like with the stunt I just pulled.

An hour later we were walking down the main road. Despite my actions, Louise was still insistent on purchasing me a set of clothes. Definitely nothing of high quality fitting that of a Noble (as she still called me a barbarian) and I would have refused if she was going to anyways. But instead of obtaining a set of clothes, I bargained with her to purchase the raw materials instead.

Ah, the look she gave me made me laugh.

In my hands were bags of yarn of different fabrics such as cotton, linen, and wool, boxes of threads in various colors, sheets and rolls of premade and already woven fabrics, and tools such as needles, rulers, graphs, pins, and scissors. I was upset none of the more convenient materials such as nylon and polyester was available, but those were both synthetic materials found on Earth. Polyester was, apparently, a signature material of a certain alchemist who refused to sell his secrets in this world. And it was even more unfortunate none of the fabrics of Ilyvander was available.

I will never take the Tailor family for granted ever again. They make _the best _boxers in existence.

And Louise was stingy and didn't want to pay a little extra for silk. Understandable, as it was an exceedingly rare crafting material only made beyond Rub'al Khali. I'm just tempted to introduce the secret to making silk— no! Denim! Denim wouldn't be invented until several hundred years!

And Louise had the audacity to call me a barbarian. Ha.

"I promise to pay you back and to send money to your parents as well," I said to Louise as soon as we left the shop.

She turned her head to look my way while leading me down the road. "I can understand you thinking of returning the favor to me… but why to my parents as well?"

"Your money comes from your parents, doesn't it? You get an allowance to pay for necessities and for extracurricular activities?" A nod from her. "Then I'm not only spending the money given to you to do as you please, but I am also spending the money of your parents. I was taught to take responsibility. Therefore, I will return what you gave while offering recompense to your parents. They might not be directly offended as it is considered your money. But how would you like it if you gave something to someone who needed it, only for it to be— Oof!"

My lesson was cut off as a sudden weight tackled onto my back. I almost lost my footing and tripped over Louise. But some Craven magic stabled my balance and I didn't have to crush the little girl.

"Darling~" a pair of slender arms wrapped around my neck as Kirche von Zerbst hung on my back. She was on the tips of her toes just to stay upright while she, intently, pressed her breasts against my back while rubbing them around to entice me. "Fancy meeting you here! Are you out shopping as well?"

"Kirche!" Louise stamped her foot down, shook her fists, and shouted unnecessarily. "W-What do you think you're doing?! Don't you dare try to steal him away from me, you harlot! Get off of my fa—"

A good hard _glare _cut off what Louise was about to say.

"Ms. Zerbst," I sighed, "do you not remember our little chat about modesty? If you are still trying to have your way with me, I'm afraid you're wasting your time. One particular trait about modesty is you don't _stalk _those you're interested in. I had seen you spying on us from the window of the tailor shop."

She either wasn't listening, had brushed it off, or was just ignorant. Kirche clung to me tighter, breathed into my ear, and whispered, "Oh Darling, I was afraid you had run off with the Zero this morning. Of course I had to follow you in case she got her clutches around you. And a good thing too. You poor thing! A mighty and powerful king like yourself being treated like some lowly servant, carrying the Zero's things like some pack mule."

I was suddenly gaining a migraine. One, she was clinging on to me and invading my personal space. Two, she didn't know when to take a hint. And three, these were _my _things and I was perfectly fine with carrying them.

"Little chat…?" Louise eyes narrowed as she was the only one paying attention to the conversation apparently. "What do you mean, Artemis? How do you know Kirche?"

Before Kirche could so much as spew some tale about us burning in each other's passion, I pulled her fingers apart and made her get off of me. "The other night she had her familiar _escort _me to her dorm and tried to seduce me."

"W-W-W-W-W-What?!" Louise blushed like a tomato. I knew she was twelve, but I didn't think she was… sheltered. "K-K-K-Kirche h-how dare y-y-you try to s-s-s-s— _assault _m-my familiar!"

I didn't even bother trying to correct her this time. I doubt she would have paid attention to me at this point anyways. Too much blood was going to her head and she was probably swimming around in her emotions.

"It's only right I do, _Vallière,_" the red-head magician walked around me, smiled, and put a dainty hand on her bust. She was dressed in the academy uniform, but the first three buttons of her top were undone, revealing a heavy amount of cleavage that drew in the eye of every man on the street. "He is nothing short of a Square mage and if he says he is royalty then I believe him! And I would treat him just as such! Unlike you, who continue to kick him out of the dorm, makes him work with the help, and sleep in the gardens."

…Is that what it looked like? Last I checked I was pretty sure all of those things were of my own doing.

She added more, wrapping her arms around one of mine and pressing her breasts against my body as much as possible. "If it were up to me, I would have him sleep in a nice, warm bed and treat him like royalty _every night._"

I'll get wrinkles if my scowl could get any deeper. Steadily, I began to pry her fingers off of me and put some space between us. "That's enough. Ms. Zerbst, what happens between _Louise _and I is of no business of yours. I appreciate your concerns and offers, but I will tell you that you are misinformed. There is something between Louise and I in which the chemistry between you and I lack. That of _mutual understanding. _This is something you don't seem to understand and so I must refuse you. Perhaps on the day you learn modesty I will look your way. But until then, good day."

Before Louise could add in her last retort, I pushed her down the road.

Kirche jumped in front of us before we could take off, however. She wasn't hurt at all by my words. Rather, she seemed more determined than ever. "Right you are, Your Majesty! Then in order to earn your favor I will have to strive harder. My heart burns for you so if it is not strong enough, then I will make it bright enough to have your attention!"

Oh, it has my attention. Just not good attention.

She went on, "As it is in my runic name, the Ardent, I cannot allow this to go until I have a place in your heart. I already belong to you, Your Majesty. Let me prove my worth. Provide me with any task and I shall see to it that it is fulfilled. Or… if this displeases you then you may punish me— satiate all of your anger and displeasure onto my body."

If I weren't carrying things, my face would be planted into my hands.

This girl couldn't take no for an answer. Much like any Noble teenage child I have met so far, she was spoiled and always had what she wanted one way or another. For me to refuse her didn't mean I wasn't obtainable. No, to her, I was a challenge.

God. It was like a reverse Lolifor.

So if she couldn't take no for an answer, she _will _do any task I could have offered. Many ideas came to mind. I could have embarrassed her, ruining her reputation for all of time; but, what if on the off chance she actually does it regardless of the cost? She wasn't desperate, no. But she also didn't have anything to lose.

Which meant I had to give her something impossible.

"Fine," I grunted. "If you cannot learn modesty, then I will provide you with a suitable opportunity. Something of equivalent value. Kirche von Zerbst, in order for you to earn my adoration, go on a quest and seek out a magic artifact unlike any other. I do not ask for a weapon of mass destruction. I seek a weapon of subtlety. Go and find me…"

Options, options, options…

"A weapon with _intelligence,_" I eventually came up with. I would have smiled at the wit if I wasn't already annoyed. An object with sentience was easy to find in a magical world like this one. But one with intelligence? In any mythology on Earth, I've never heard of such a thing. And there are no records of such a weapon on Ilyvander. The closest possible things would have to be the Zur D'Gandr, hammer-cleaver of Roix Armadius— now in the hands of Bladeworks. But even then, that cursed blade's 'intelligence' was equivalent to its wielder.

But I wasn't done. Oh no. I had specifics.

"This one is to have a personality. Something one might have a chat with on a fair night in a tavern. Not only shall it have sound wisdom, but it shall have the humor of a vulgar. If you shall obtain such an article and present it in my name, then I, Artemis James Philips, shall learn to love you. Take all the time you want. But until you find such a weapon, you are to leave me in my peace."

"Hmm…" Kirche stopped smiling, her lips thinning into a pressed line as she thought. A thin finger tapped her chin. "An intelligent weapon? There are many enchanted weapons in Tristain. But I don't think there are any in all of Halkegenia. Perhaps beyond Rub'al Khali…"

I noticed Louise didn't say anything. Which meant a good thing. Not only because I didn't have to deal with her shrivel squealing, but also because she had come to the same conclusion as me. My request was impossible. There was no way Kirche could fulfill it. Now it was a question whether she would listen to the part about leaving me alone or not…

"Very well," Kirche eventually nodded, placed her hands on her hips, and stuck her head up high. _Somehow, _the gesture of raising her head was strong enough to cause her breasts to bounce animatedly. "I will find you your choice weapon. And I'll not stop, cheat, or advance another way for your love until I find it!"

Oh thank God. She was going to leave me alone.

"Then I wish you the best of luck," I said halfheartedly as I began treading back to the front of the capital. Louise was right behind me.

"Come Tabitha!" Kirche walked passed me. Looking behind me, I saw her dragging away the petite blue-haired girl who had been smart enough to leave the classroom yesterday. She did not seem bothered in the slightest about being dragged by her cape. In fact, her emotions were an absolute blank as she was more interested in reading the book in her hands.

Relieved that mess was finally over, I assured my suspicions with Louise— not that I doubt anything but it was more so for my nerves. "There's no such thing as an intelligent weapon in this world, right? Not in any of your stories, lore, mythology, religion and the like?"

"There was the Singing Sword of the Hero of Ivaldi," Louise said after a moment of thought. "But I don't think it actually sang. One version says it was like a flute that played music whenever it was swung and another said it was just the name of his spell. But nothing like what you were suggesting. It sounded like you were asking for a man inside a blade."

"Ah, we have similar legends," I nodded. In both Earth and Ilyvander there were versions of a Singing Sword. "The one I'm most familiar with was a weapon of sound magic that fired hypersonic streams with such high frequencies they couldn't be heard unless at a great distance— when the vibrations began to lose their power. They say when you hear its song was actually the cry of all of those who it killed."

"…Of course a barbarian like you would have such a legend," Louise muttered.

I smiled, feeling in a slightly better mood. I would have loved to have gone into the details of the Singing Blade and the other Sonic Instruments of the Priest. But I believe those are more fitting for another time, if I ever do bother to mention them at all around Louise.

"Then unless she finds something like a talking sword, she's out of our hair for a while, right?"


	3. Artemis the Left Hand

**AN: **Did not make my deadline... Sorry about that. Anyways, for those who read this and not my other works and haven't seen the latest author notes of those, allow me to share something. I will be working next on BSWR, then the Throne of Shirou, and then returning to this story. Expect the next chapter of this one up within another 3-6 weeks. Thank you for your patience. I reward you with an exceptionally long chapter and the entirety of the Foquet arc.

* * *

_"Artemis, listen, there's something you should know. There exists a creature out there not even I can defeat, and this is coming from someone who has defeated an Original being. This creature has been able to exist since BEFORE the dawn of man, has been able out outsmart any of the other beings, and, fuck, has been able to bring one of the Original-kind to extinction. No matter how powerful a being you may be become, I GUARANTEE you will NEVER be able to defeat it._

_"They're called Women. Just learn to deal with them."_

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**I am the Gandalfr  
**

"Do you by chance have some kind of beef with Kirche?" I asked Louise as I was using her desk and my new graph to mark pieces of linen and cotton to cut with some chalk. I decided to start with making essential things like socks and boxers. Louise nearly threw the chair at me for making something so 'simplistic' but I countered with asking her if it was better to be without clothes or to be without underwear. She didn't respond.

That, and I've been wearing the same pair of boxers since the day before I got here. Doesn't matter what godly materials the Tailor family used to make them and doesn't matter what weave I used to clean them. A man needs _fresh _underclothes.

The sun was setting by the time we had returned to the academy. However, it was dark by the time I decided to get to work. I had wasted a good hour just sprawled out on Louise's floor when we got back while she read from her textbook. She reminded me when I was her age; constantly studying even when it wasn't needed. Now why was I being like this and wasting valuable time?

Because dear Dantes took his revenge on me for previously mounting Mercedes and was twice as merciless as the female horse had been. _Edmund, _Louise corrected me. But I knew what I said. Too bad she didn't get the reference.

"…How does a butcher…?" Louise looked up from her knitting. Seeing as I was crafting some clothes for myself, Louise fell into a mood to practice her knitting. She wasn't very good at it, however… Her face was perplexed as she was trying to make sense of my question.

My theory that the translation spell in fact translates lingo was corrected. Louise didn't understand what I was saying and had taken it upon a completely different route. It didn't make sense how people were using words and phrases so similar to that from modern-day Earth, though.

"Over and under, Louise," I corrected her pattern. I've no idea what she was doing to turn a sweater into a… whatever that thing was. "And it's a figure of speech I accidently let slip. I'm asking if you don't like Kirche for something she's done to you in the past."

"I am going over-under… stupid familiar…" Louise grumbled as she continued to expand what was becoming an oddly-shaped ball. "Kirche is nothing but a harlot who uses her b-b-b-b-b— _assets _to charm the boys of the academy. And she's a Zerbst! They _breed _such sl-sl-sl— _thieving _children. They're all a pack of fiancé-stealing succubae. Kirche is proof of that!"

I watched with fascination at how her knitting was turning from a sweater, to a giant wad of yarn, to some sort of beast ready to consume her. I memorized her patterns and would later see if I wove such a knot I could produce something just as fearsome.

"I already figured she's that kind of girl," I shrugged and went back to my work, cutting sections of linen. "But I'm asking if she's done anything to _you, _Louise. Did she steal a boy from you in the past?"

Naturally, she responded by yelling at me and denying having any sort of relationship with a boy with everything that she had. She even winded herself out. I let out a chuckle at her behavior.

"Alright, alright," I tried to calm her back down with a pleading hand. "So it's evident Kirche never went out of her way to do anything against you. I'm not asking you to be friends with her, but it wouldn't hurt to—"

"Do not finish that sentence," Louise growled as her wand was suddenly in her hand. The scent of ozone lingered in the air as sparks of her power lit at the tip. "As if I, a Vallière, could ever get along with a Zerbst. Besides, Kirche makes fun of me every day. She's the one who declared war."

Materials were folded, pins were placed to keep them set, and I attached some thread to the appropriate needle. I was excited about this.

"By the way," something I recalled caught my attention. "There's something I want to ask. Of all the names I've heard so far, Kirche's has different roots. I mean, Vallière, Gramont, Montmerency, Springfield— if you look at all of them you'd find Zerbst doesn't belong. Is there a reason for that?"

"Hmph," Louise something equivalent to a girly snort. "Of course she doesn't belong. She's a Germanium. I've no idea what one of those barbarians is doing here in the heart of Tristain."

"…Huh." I've nothing further to say about that. Louise might just be a racist. I don't know how long I'll be staying in this world. Hopefully not long. At the same time I hope I can stay here long enough to change her opinion about people. She really is a brilliant girl and strives to be the best in her studies. But I fear once we figure out what her problem is with her magic she'll become something of a monster.

It was how the Sun King started out, after all.

Well, when we get to that bridge we'll cross it. For now, I dropped the topic and went back to my project. The Gift of Craft came alive as I picked up my first set of fabrics and needle. Louise picked up her head to watch as the geometric wings sprouted off of my skin in the same way they had during the duel against Guiche. I smiled as the feelings of doubt for my sewing skills just vanished.

Perfect underwear, here I come!

"Darling!" a dreadful, dreadful, _dreadful _voice I had prayed to God Almighty that I would never have to hear had, unfortunately, been heard. The subject of our topic had all but kicked open the door with her appearance with something large and cylindrical in her arms. Following behind in her shadow was the same blue-haired glassed girl, Tabitha, still reading out of her book with a dull expression.

"Speak of the devil," Louise grounded out in extreme irritation.

…Alright, what the hell? 'Speak of the devil' is definitely a modern-Earth saying. Unless the same expression was uttered in this obscure time-period, then I must not know how old the saying is. Or, certain circumstances occurred and the saying was found much earlier. I don't know.

"Ms. Zerbst," I sighed, placed my utensils down, and spun on the chair to face Kirche, who was anxiously hopping on her heels like a small child. The Gift of Craft had returned to sitting idly on the surface of my skin. "Knocking would have been preferred. And I'm to assume you've found the article I requested so soon?"

"I did!" A bright smile which rivaled the brightness of the breaking dawn appeared. It made me want to look away. "I've scoured all of the capital, going through every shop that sells weapons of any kind until I found it! _And _it fit all of your requirements!"

Uh huh…

My eyes immediately went towards the item in question. In her arms was a sword shut in a scabbard made of iron. But I couldn't examine anything about the weapon other than the hilt, and there was nothing special about that. Wanting my appreciation more than anything, Kirche shoved the weapon into my hands. It was decently heavy, that much was a good sign for a weapon at least. But I didn't ask for a decent weapon. I asked for one with intelligence.

"Kirche!" Louise began shouting again. Thank God I kept up those silencing wards. It wasn't late, but it was still a decent hour a handful of the students would go to bed for. "You can't just barge in here…"

I blanked her out after that, already knowing what she was going to say and how Kirche would respond. So as the two girls began to fight in what was considered a female version of who has the bigger _schtick, _I pulled out the sword from its scabbard.

It was a single-edged straight sword. But it was so rusty I couldn't tell what kind of metal it was made of right off the bat. And its design was something I wasn't familiar with. However, it was well-forged, balanced, comfortable to grip despite the aged leather, and had a sort of personal touch with the way the pummel and quillon were placed together. Strangely, despite its rust, there were no nicks or scratches on the blade itself. It remained as sharp as ever, as though it had never been used in battle.

My eyes shifted over into the perspective of the String World as I examined the properties of the blade. Slowly… my eyes began to widen.

I… have seen the metal on both Earth and in Mystic King Vyrn's territory on Ilyvander. It was the ever-immaculate steel the Fae guarded with a passion almost as much as they worshiped Sir Rolan. What was beautiful about this metal was not its proficiency in battle— no, the Djinn metals I use with my Sentinels were far better— but its potential compatibility in their mysteries. And if such mystic metal was _rusty, _it meant there was truly something potent eating away at its physical vessel. Such a process wasn't immediate either. It was something that took _ages._

The Fae, their entire species, were practitioners in Phenomena. It was a Defiant Work on par with my Sorcery. While Sorcery directly defies the direct world, Phenomenon directly defies the _indirect _world. Now what did this mean? It means they can craft tools, instruments, _technologies _with the machinations to fulfill the tasks that go against the laws of the world.

Learning of its base metal, I dove in deeper and began analyzing the patterns of strings which made up this weapon.

"Heh… heh heh heh…" I couldn't hold it in. "Hehehehe… heheh… hehehahaha… ha ha ha ha… ha ha ha ha ha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAA HAAA HAA HAAAAAAA!"

My hands were shaking as my grip tightened around the hilt. This… this blade was a creation of the Fae and contained a byproduct of one of their astounding Phenomena. My eyes picked up the convoluted legion of weaves that made up its function. There were far too many for me to memorize and some of the patterns were so beyond me I couldn't replicate them at my level. But it was there! This was it! This was the formula I needed! The one both my father and I failed to solve!

Within this blade was not just sentience and intelligence. This blade had feelings, had ideas, had dreams, had wishes. This rusty piece of junk contained a _soul. _It was recognized by the world to have its own identity!

I know Kirche and Louise were calling my name. Tabitha had put down her book to stare at me. But I was hardly paying attention to them. My mind was lost in this intricacy. This was a puzzle I needed to solve.

"Book to bathroom…" I said to them as I stood and went straight for the door. "Library to fish and kitchen bring toilet… Heh heh heh heh…" By now at this point I was drooling.

They said something, but I was already out of the door and running for an isolated space as though I had just stolen something not meant for me.

*Scene*

Within the nameless garden in which I usually slept under the nice oak tree, I wandered around with my eyes glued to the silent sword refusing to cooperate with me. I don't know who it was trying to fool. My eyes could pick up the patterns in its design that told me what it was capable of doing. This single-edged sword could not only talk and _learn _cognitive thought, but it also had a few features placed that made it a suitable weapon.

It had the ability to break down any means of energy and store it away into its core. It was something of an anti-mage weapon in which its Fae metal could block against the toughest of spells, undo their commands, and then absorb the planetary energy used in crafting the spell. In theory, this could apply to the natural planetary forces such as hurricanes and lightning bolts. But the blade itself needed to willingly activate this ability— however a decent weave from me could trigger this function, but that would depend if the sword would like that or not.

Then there was the secondary effect in which what to do with said energy. It could be transferred over to the wielder to empower either their casting (if the wielder was a mage to begin with) or some minor physical prowess. As the blade had a will of its own, it had the function to 'guide' the wielder by expending some of this energy. Perhaps as a method to sync both sword and wielder during battle or as a training method? It could also be used to amplify the strength of swings.

Of course, these were all just theories of mine. It would be better to just outright ask the conversational sword, right? Well, the problem would have to begin with getting it to talk to begin with. And it was being stubborn. I know it can hear me!

"Come oooonnnnnnnn," I whined as I shook it gently. "Can't you say something? I'm your friend. You can trust me."

More silence.

"Why won't you talk to me?!" I shook it a little harder until it clattered and some rust dusted off. I had thought that was the sign that it was growing tired of me and was about to give in. But, no, it was just me. "I'm quite the swell guy. I'm sure you and I can get along _swimmingly_!"

Still, nothing.

My Sentinel approached and took a seat at my side, removing its sword from its back to place it on its lap. I never commanded it to. It had just sensed I was within the area and decided on its own to come see whatever aid it could give me. Once again, like a puppy seeking attention from its master. A puppy without any feelings, but still. It even turned its blank face my way to let me know I had its full attention.

Shit. As it was surrounded by humans, it was beginning to study their behavior. It could never truly learn their personalities, but it could learn to mimic them in due time. Looking through its memories right now, a few number of students had already approached it when I wasn't around and tried talking to it. While I was distracted dealing with Louise, it took it upon itself to try to react with them. The best it could do was replicate their gestures and movements. But eventually it will start to learn to make noise, and from that it will learn to speak, and from that it will learn to engage in conversation.

Granted, being able to hold a conversation like how I would with Louise during our moments alone would take an exponentially large amount of time. It would have to learn words, grammar, sentences, phrases, appropriate responses, and tone before it could fake human intelligence. But, seeing as though there were a few hundred students gossiping constantly, its learning was more than likely being accelerated at a large rate.

Because it had this inner desire to appease me. It wanted to be acknowledged by me. It wanted my love. And it wanted to imitate me as much as possible.

I remembered a time when I had allowed this. Hell, I remember a time when I would teach them. However, I learned quickly how horrendous of a mistake this was. It was cruel to refuse their wishes, but it was for the better.

Lacking intelligence wasn't the flaw of Doll Maker. This glitch of wanting my love wasn't even the flaw. It was when a Jinni fades away that was Doll Maker's greatest flaw, and my ultimate weakness.

It was why my father went mad.

I shook my head and just let the overgrown doll have its moment. Regardless, I was too occupied with one of the keys to solving the impurities with the Doll Maker Sorcery. In my hands was the blade made by Fae hands with the Phenomenon of soul emulation. I needed to look at this in a different direction.

Somehow Kirche had found out this blade could talk. She couldn't have been told by the clerk; what right-minded salesman would throw something like this away to a simple pretty face? I could only suspect the sword had talked to only her. Perhaps it had a personal interest in only women?

Yeah, well, like hell I'm using _that _spell to change my gender again.

"Familiar!" the sound of my ever so sweet summoner broke me out of my musing.

With a heavy sigh and a hand going through my hair, I turned my body just enough to look at the approaching group of girls. It was sad how even though I was sitting down Louise was only a few inches taller than me. That is to say, her little attempt to intimidate me had the exact opposite effect. A deep scowl plastered her face as she was holding a long lasso of rope.

Behind her, Kirche had a displeasing look on her face though it was nowhere near as… irate as Louise's. Her normal stature was different, but it didn't excuse her from trying to get my attention with the way she displayed her figure. Both hands on her hips, her weight adjusted to one leg, and her back arched to put emphasis on her chest.

And beside her, almost hidden in her shadow, was the blue-haired girl Tabitha. The majority of her attention was still locked on her small book with just enough given to the background to follow the two wherever they went. A large, crooked wooden staff was hanging around her arm as she walked. I could only assume it to be her choice of catalyst for her spells, but at the same time I had never seen her with it. She either always carried it with her and I never noticed or she had went to fetch it while I was out here.

If she went to go fetch it… My eyes went back to the rope in Louise's hands.

"Louise," I began in a dry tone, "you might want to think about what you're about to do. I don't know what's going on, but I can give a good guess."

"Familiar," she grounded out the word with some bite. "Hold still and be a good dog while I tie you down."

All enthusiasm going into my problem getting the sword to talk just vanished. A thin line crossed my lips as I adjusted my position to fully face her. "And why, dare I ask, would you do such a thing?"

So began a long explanation of the past thirty minutes I missed while I slipped out of her room. I had been right about the two arguing over who was better than the other. Louise and Kirche didn't personally get along with each other— no, a _Vallière _and a _Zerbst _couldn't get along. There was bad blood between the families but I didn't have enough information to determine why. It was just clear Kirche made fun of Louise because she was a Vallière rather than being 'the Zero' and it was just the same with the way Louise treated Kirche.

Regardless, my behavior this evening had added fuel to their petty rivalry. Kirche had an inflated ego, saying her gift far surpassed what Louise gave me. Louise, already at the bottom of her self-esteem to begin with, couldn't take such a blow to her pride and argued with the importance of the things she bought for me. It went on for a while until they both had enough of another and began physically fighting with another. And then after a while of that nonsense, they decided to settle their differences once and for all and have me involved.

No, they weren't going to ask me which of their gifts was better. They had something else in mind. Louise was going to tie me with the rope, hang me from the top of the tallest tower, and the two were going to cast fireball spells until they could cut the rope to 'save' me. Never mind that they could easily miss and strike my face or could use too much power and completely incinerate me. And there was the fact that Louise couldn't cast fireball to begin with. Her anti-magic bricks would probably hurt much more than a concussive burst of flames.

So, as Louise and Kirche finished their tale and began to approach me, I provided with an alternative.

Five minutes later, Louise and Kirche were hanging from said tower as I sat back to admire my work. Kirche I left hanging in a comfortable knot that would use most of her body to evenly spread the tension. That way, she could just hang there as though she was being levitated. I even dressed her in a cloak to warm her from the cold night air and to prevent any rope marks from forming.

Louise, however, I was not kind with. Her ankles and wrists were tied together and I stripped her down to her underwear. She didn't wear a bra, so I took a few strips of the woven cotton fabric to cover some of her modesty. But those two things alone would do nothing to protect her from the cold. Naturally, she would try to struggle to break free. And she would learn quickly the more she squirmed the worse her rope burns would get. Oh, and she was upside-down so the blood would go straight to her head.

It didn't stop her from cursing up a storm and threatening me to untie her 'or else'. At first it was no food for the next few days, then to sleeping outdoors, and then to actually thinking she could punish me with the horsewhip she kept in her drawer.

"I'll let you both down until you learn your lesson," I said to the two of them. "Honestly, what made you think I would have allowed either of you to do this? And especially you, Louise. I warned you about treating me like some pet, yet you didn't listen."

Louise's response was more shouting.

"But Darling~" whined Kirche. "I thought we had a deal!"

My frown deepened as my eyes shifted over to the rusty sword in the care of my Sentinel. It came back to me that— _shit!— _I had made a promise to Kirche should she bring me the very thing I never expected her to find. I mean, seriously, of _all _the mystical items found throughout every mythology on both Earth and Ilyvander, a weapon with intelligence was unheard of. Now there were stories about gods being suppressed into blades, and vice-versa with swords ascending into the ranks of godhood. But such weapons had sentience, not intelligence. There's a distinction.

Yet, probably because it was _me, _the grand forces that made up the Laws of the omniverse made it happen. Not only had there been the only unheard of weapon in existence placed onto this world, but Kirche had to be the one to find it. Conveniently on the same day I asked. _Conveniently _in a store _conveniently _inside the city where I made the request.

Oh, I remember my promise alright. I promised I would learn to love her. It was the same promise I had made to each of my girls and I had kept that promise no matter what. But still, if they were ever to find out about this, not only will Kirche be skinned alive, but _terrible _atrocities will befall upon me.

Especially if Reaper ever caught wind of this.

"I'm a man of my word, Ms. Zerbst," I called out to her. "But that doesn't excuse you from treating me the same way Ms. Vallière had."

Granted, I've never done something like this to any of my girls. And not just because they'll beat the living shit out of me for doing it even after they've learned their lesson. I wouldn't do it to them because there was never a need. If I ever told them to stop or warned them they were about to step over the line, they would listen and work with me on a mature level until things were settled.

That included the girls who still had the mentality of a teenager. Therefore, the behavior coming from both Louise and Kirche was inexcusable. However, I don't know why they were acting this way. I would have blamed their noble heritage, but that doesn't seem just. I mean, Alyse was raised as a noble and as the heir to her family practice. Her entire existence screams 'arrogance' even to this day. Hell, she calls herself 'Princess Alyse' because she considers herself to be my first-wife and thinks I love her the most (though I really do but wouldn't _dare _say it out loud in front of the other girls). Yet she's always been capable of being mature, unlike these two.

The sound of a crinkly page being turned brought my attention down to the small girl sitting beside my Sentinel. Tabitha had not stopped me from tying the two and leaving them as is. In fact, she didn't react other than to look up from her book every now and then. I don't know what she wanted out of all of this. I would have said she didn't care, but if so then she would have returned to her room. She was probably just observing the series of events for her private interest.

"And what do you think about all of this?" I asked her.

She looked up from her book to stare at me, then to look at the dangling girls, and then back at me. "Fair," her voice had been quiet and emotionless. She had stated a fact rather than an opinion.

I gave her a smile and a nod before turning back to admiring my work. However, I couldn't suppress the shiver she gave me. Tabitha reminds me too much like the freshly-made Djinn produced from my workshop. Constantly observant, absorbing every bit of information like a vacuum, and absolutely mechanical in their responses.

No human should revert to such a state of mind. If Louise thought she had problems, Tabitha had some demons, without a doubt.

"So ladies, have you learned your lesson or do you need a few more minutes up there?"

Once again, Louise said some unspeakable things to me. I should either tighten the grip of the ropes or weave a spell to have her spit taste like soap. However, her ranting forced her to squeal and flinch in pain as the ropes began to rub against her skin. Her punishment was self-inflicted, so I chose to stay idle.

"But Darling!" Kirche whined _again. _"You have to admit that my gift was much better than some base supplies. And the Zero is making you tailor your own outfits? That's just so mean! If it were me I would have bought you a whole wardrobe of Germanium attire!"

"Neither of you are better!" my voice was raised in annoyance. "The both of you purchased _exactly _what I asked for. Louise gave me something of essential need while you, Kirche, gave me something to advance my research. Both articles are of importance to me. But you can't see that because this isn't about me; this is about you two and your petty differences. I don't care if you two aren't friends, but I'm not letting either of you down until you two are no longer enemies."

With that said, I took a seat beside Tabitha and made myself comfortable. The blue-haired girl looked up once again as I chose to sit probably a little too close to her. There was about a foot of space between us, an amount that was seen as comfortable back on Earth. However, mannerisms were different in this world— especially in this stuck-up era. I might be breaking some code of etiquette. Tabitha didn't react any further and returned to her book, so I can't tell if she wasn't bothered or if her stare was her way of telling me to move away.

"Mao~" Kirch pouted. She continued to hang there with her cheeks inflated. "Tabi, you can't agree with this now, can you?"

The crinkling of another page being turned was the girl's response. She didn't even bother looking up at her friend.

"Y-You can't be serious!" Louise was quickly learning how to shout without having to move her body. Not that it was difficult to begin with, but it meant it would take longer for her to learn her lesson. "You can't expect me to get along with a Zerbst!"

"I don't expect you to," I said at a decent volume. But it was probably too low for her to hear me. "You just have to learn to tolerate each other. Until then, stay up there. Take all the time in the world for all I care."

I then lied down on the grass and put my arm over my eyes. Mentally, I told my Sentinel to wake me once either one of the girls learned the lesson. It even gave me a nod. Cute. With a few flicks of my fingers, a silencing barrier was put up so I wouldn't have to hear Louise anymore. The sensation of being watched wasn't missed; in fact I felt it coming from Tabitha. She hadn't moved as far as I could tell and I didn't detect any magic within the area. What an interesting girl she was to be able to observe my spellcraft without having to direct her eyes my way.

And very sharp. It made me wonder what sort of hell she had to go through to have such a skill.

Regardless, she didn't move away from her spot. She remained as still as a statue with the occasional turning of a page. It was amusing trying to come up with theories on how she was able to read in the dark as my mind began to unwind. She could be a Fire mage and could channel the element into some sort of optic light, but that was stretching the affinity a little bit. Or, she could just have such sharp eyes that all she needed was the faintest of details to pick up the entire deal.

Either way, her presence was… welcomed. She could have moved away or she could have returned to her room. Instead, she chose to remain.

It couldn't have possibly been more than a half of an hour when my senses kicked off. A sharp twinge of metaphysical strings snapping and coming together rattled my consciousness. Someone was casting an intricate spell and draining a lot of planetary fuel from the area around us.

I sat up and channeled Spirit through my veins. Tabitha had put down her book as she felt the disturbance as well. Had the faculty finally decided to send a powerful mage to deal with me? Had they waited for the right moment when I was away from the majority of the students and staff? But if so, did they not care if three of their students would get mixed in the crossfire? Then what would be the point of waiting this long? Or was such a potent mage unavailable until now?

Through the String World, my eyes sought out where this magic was coming from. All the way on the opposite side of the courtyard, a magician was gathering as much energy as they could into one area. This magician was shrouded in a dark cloak with the hood drawn to mask most of their features. Even in the String World the darkness of the night did well to hide them.

With a wave of their wand, the ground came alive at their feet. The magician rose up as rocks and dirt formed into a large hill and continued to rise. The rocks melded in with another, reshaping even to fit certain holes in its design, and started to take form. I watched as the form of a humanoid rock-monster towered over us at fifty feet in height with the caster standing on top.

It waddled as it walked as it lacked the finesse and flexibility of a real creature. However, it did not excuse that it was drawing closer to us. No, the magician didn't seem to actually see us. Did that mean this mage wasn't targeting me? It was heading straight towards the tower.

My eyes widened in horror as the rock monster raised one of its massive arms and began to prepare to swing it around. It didn't seem to bother the mage that a pair of girls was right in front of its path. They were screaming more than loud enough to get anyone's attention. This magician didn't care!

"Burst, Five!"

I bit my lip and drew blood to counter the pain as my body overexerted itself in a flash. Metaphorical gates within my core were forced open to grant me speed, strength, focus, and magic potential up to six times my natural limit. Spirit flared far too hot and channeled far too thick throughout my veins, too intense that my body was being cooked from the inside. Had I not my regenerative properties, I'd be dead.

It didn't matter. I'd bear the pain and the repercussions after. The Gift of Craft came alive as I threw my hands in front of me, my fingers spinning a web so fast and fierce that forced some to dislocate. And if I hadn't the Gift of Craft, Louise and Kirche would be dead.

The rock automaton brought its stub of a fist down in front of it. A thunderous boom echoed throughout the entirety of the school, hopefully waking the faculty and guards. Though, seeing as how useless they've been the past few days, I doubt they'd come to our rescue.

Between the girls and the magic construct appeared a high-grade ethereal wall with cycling energy. It was one of my strongest barriers, and the only one I could use instantly… even if I had to use extreme measures. Made of my Spirit, it was a golden shield twenty-five feet in diameter that could absorb the shock of artillery capable of bringing down a fortress. It continuously spun energy in hundreds of patterns at high-speed cycles to dampen any blow— be it physical or mystical.

Spirit cycling so fast, not only was the automaton bounced back, but a large chunk of its 'hand' had been blown off. The magician riding on top had to frantically wave their wand to stabilize the creature. It nearly fell back by the sudden rejecting force.

The barrier collapsed immediately after.

I fell to my knees and clutched my chest as the pain intensified. Using a 'Burst' command forced multiple layers of my abilities to combine instantaneously. Rather than doing one layer at a time at a steady pace for my body to adapt or reinforce myself with magic to prepare like I had in the duel with Guiche, I had thrown away such precautions and jumped several stages for this emergency. Even if it was just for a second, that one second nearly killed me. If I was a few years younger, doing a Burst of Three would have killed me— as it had when my heart burst open and I was bleeding internally on that night long ago.

But I had done a Burst of Five— two more multitudes since that time. Right now my insides were cooked, my body was numb in some places and screaming in others, and my heart was racing fast enough to warrant a cardiac arrest. I had broken out in a flash sweat that drenched my clothes and panting like a dog. My vision was going dark and I could barely hear anything. My magic was overclocking to heal me. And at the moment I couldn't move.

Tabitha and my Sentinel were moving for me. The girl was muttering things under her breath— incantations for her spells— and waved her staff around as she dashed towards the rock puppet. Windy Icicle, the name of her spell, fired off several pikes of ice at speeds matching arrows of a longbow. She knew she couldn't do anything against the creature, so her attacks were aimed at the magician on top.

But the mage saw through this and commanded his mount to put up its arms to defend. The ice attack shattered upon impact.

My Sentinel, meanwhile, had thrown both its blade and the rusty sword towards the still-hanging girls. Despite how they were squirming, both weapons were able to cut into the ropes and free them. But before either one could begin to drop down, the Sentinel had leapt up to grab onto them. With one girl in each arm, it planted its feet onto the wall of the tower and from there slid down using its own source of Spirit to keep its balance.

I saw as Jinni and Fae blades bounced off a sleek surface as they had continued to fly towards the tower after achieving their intended purpose. The tower was protected by a grand barrier, but I was far too exhausted to make out its properties despite my eyes still tuned into the String World.

The magician was growing annoyed with Tabitha and had tried to swat her away. But the mageling was nimble and used some sort of Wind spell to have her moving across the field to dodge. For a second, her eyes locked with the saved Louise and Kirche. Manipulating her Wind spell once more, she flickered away to gain as much distance as possible. Far enough, she put two fingers to her lips and gave a sharp whistle.

A high-pitch howl came from above, already flying towards our direction after sensing the danger of its master. The blue and white dragon I had seen on the first day swooped down beside Tabitha and rose back up into the air without having to land. The blue-haired mageling had quickly jumped atop as though the two had practiced this for years. She did not pause for a second as she now fired off her spears of ice at the assaulting magician from her advantageous altitude.

But it was a fruitless battle as the rock monster did well to protect its master.

"Hold on Tabitha!" Kirche came to my side only to fetch her wand before running off towards her impending demise. "I'm coming!"

I couldn't stop her. I didn't even have it in me to command my Sentinel to grab her. I felt the Jinni become… confused, for lack of a word. It knew I wanted her out of harm's way but wasn't sure if it was to initiate without a command. In its confusion, it could only stand-by.

I was too busy puking my dinner to argue. I had grown dehydrated so quickly.

Louise too grabbed her wand. There was a look of determination in her eyes as she examined the magician her classmates were trying to fend off. She barely paid me any mind. "It's Foquet the Crumbling Dirt. She must be after what's inside the school treasury."

I had to fight off passing out just to hear what she was saying. My skin was drinking in lunar rays to fuel my recovery. However, only one-tenth as potent as sunlight, moonlight could only grant me so much energy to spend.

I didn't hear what else she had to say. Honestly, when I blinked, she was no longer by my side. In fact, my Sentinel was now assisting me to my feet before I knew it. It hurt to move, but that was a good sign. Parts here and there were no longer numb, which meant they were no longer dead and had rejuvenated tissue. I was about halfway done.

But that second of a blackout cost me the chance to stop Louise. She stood beside Kirche as the red-haired mageling was casing fireball spells in conjecture to Tabitha's Windy Icicle. But the magician, Foquet, had erected a dome of rock around itself and ignored them. The rock puppet didn't need its master's sight to move as it went back to the tower, or the magician had a means to see. Louise raised her wand, took a deep breath, and began a long-winded incantation.

'_Stop her!' _I commanded my Sentinel.

It hesitated, bowing its head in replication of an expression it had seen from one of the students to signify when they were thinking hard. I felt it calculating what was more important; staying by my side or listening to my command.

Foquet's monster brought its arm back around and started to swing at the tower's wall.

"Fireball!" Louise finished her incantation and flicked her wand towards the dome Foquet hid beneath.

However, as the titan's fist collided with the barrier of the tower, it sent a ripple that shook the ground. Louise and Kirche lost their balance and fell to their knees. And in doing so, Louise's aim had been thrown off.

The result was a concussive force exploding nowhere near Foquet. Louise's anti-magic nature had sent an invisible 'fireball' at the wall of the tower. The blast was strong enough not only to bring the entirety of the barrier down like a layer of shattered glass, but it had also the force to open a gaping hole into the interior of the tower.

Only taking a second to gather himself, Foquet used this to his advantage. The automaton extended its arm for the magician to use as a bridge to enter the treasury. Less than a minute after, as everyone was starting to recover from the sight of Louise's spell, Foquet was already exiting with a large rectangular box in his arms. He had already known what to take and where exactly it was placed.

The dome sprouted back up as Tabitha tried to shoot him down but to no avail.

Louise gritted her teeth, stood back up, and began another incantation of a fireball spell.

Except Foquet wouldn't let her. The rock creature had turned to face her and was already bringing its fist down to crush her. Kirche shouted in alarm and was running to push her out of the way. And Louise stopped her incantation as she froze knowing she was about to die.

'**Go!' **I commanded as Godking Dalang.

My Sentinel was nothing more than a blurring wind as it flew across the field, kicking up dirt in its launch and whistling as it traveled. Before the fist was brought, the Jinni appeared before both girls, planted its front foot hard into the ground enough to dig a six-inch deep hole, and brought its own fist around as it threw its whole weight into the blow.

Fist met fist.

A thunderous roar transcending when rock met my barrier woke the dead. An eruption of dirt blew both Kirche and Louise off their feet and no doubt bruising them. But it was nothing compared to the opposing side.

The counter-attack from the Jinni was mighty enough to obliterate the magic construct's entire arm and with remaining force left over to knock it off balance. The titan was helpless as the sudden shift in weight sent it falling back. It wasn't over as the blow had destabilized the magic binding the formation together, making the creature crumble apart.

And my Sentinel remained unharmed. Its pearly armor unscratched and glistening red and blue in the moonlight, completely immaculate despite the cloud of dirt wrapping it. As it should, for the Djinn Sentinel were built to face the divine beasts of the Storm King.

Its task not complete, the Sentinel charged forward, leaping over mounds of dirt and soil to reach Foquet in all haste. However, it could not complete its mission. Where the head once was on the rock monster, where Foquet once stood upon, was nothing more than a mass of dirt sealing a tunnel that dug deep into the earth. My Sentinel would have blown open the entrance and pursued, but I could sense a large series of tunnels underground. And each tunnel was layered with his magic, so trying to track him down with his magic signature was impossible. This escape route had already been planned long in advance— who knows which path Foquet took?

I grunted in annoyance more than pain, and that was saying something. The entire engagement lasted fifteen to twenty minutes. Yet nothing more than a few students and some of the help had come out to see what the commotion was. Thankfully, none of them were stupid enough to try to take on Foquet like three certain _someones _and kept their distance.

But the only professional magician to come to the field was the professor guiding the students from the Springtime Familiar Ritual. The bald man was questioning students with a worried look on his face. He told them to return to their dorms before starting to head towards us.

"Oh Darling~" Kirche came running towards me and tackled me to the ground. I was unable to resist her and landed hard onto my back. She didn't seem to care I was drenched in sweat as she rubbed her cheek against mine. "You were most noble the way you used all of your willpower to save us from being crushed. I saw you create that magnificent defense spell. Oh Darling, I know just the way to reward you~"

Thankfully, before being molested any further, my Sentinel grabbed her by the collar of her cloak and lifted her off of me. The eight-foot tall giant let her down softly on her feet before reaching a hand to pull me back up.

Behind it, Louise was using its large stature to hide herself from her peers. She was dressed in nothing but her underwear after all. She threw me a look that resembled more of a frenzied kitten than a pissed-off girl.

I sighed, "Kirche, please report everything that happened tonight to the professor heading this way. If possible, I would like to know why he's the only one present during such a situation. But if you'll excuse me, I need to have a word with Louise."

Tabitha and her dragon landed just then. The petite girl slid down and walked towards us with the same blank expression as before. When she was at a good enough distance, she pulled out the book from the inside of her cloak and continued her reading.

"Um… certainly," Kirche said after looking between Louise and I. "Are you sure you do not need any assistance? I wouldn't mind nursing you back to health~"

"Kirche quit trying to s-s-seduce my familiar!" Louise barked as she peeked around one of the legs of my Sentinel like a small child would… which, hilariously, wasn't far off.

The look I gave Kirche said I wasn't in the mood. My body was still in pain and there was no way I could channel any Spirit. I was defenseless and could only rely on my Sentinel should the approaching professor see my state of weakness and decide to attack. I _hate _using the Burst command, especially over something as taxing as activating five Gears simultaneously. And I was stupid enough to do it without amplifying myself with Craven magic first. Yes, I was glad everyone was safe, but even the most mundane of methods could kill me at the moment.

However, if push comes to shove, I could use the magic of the Carnage family. But that was the last resort _after _the actual last resort. I wouldn't inflict any of those curses even on the most atrocious of villains. They were far too inhumane and I enjoy sleeping soundly at night.

Kirche gave a huff and walked off to meet with the professor with Tabitha in tow. The blue-haired mageling never looked up from her book. And her dragon followed obediently.

That left me alone with Louise and the Sentinel.

"I'm not going to wear that!" was the first thing Louise declared when I handed her my sweaty, stinky sweater.

"Then stay naked for all I care," I retorted but continued to hold out my sweater for her. My eyes narrowed and brows creased. The weight of the fabric was making my arm shake. Bottom line, I was tired and wasn't in the mood to deal with her childishness. "Let everyone see you in your underwear as I _drag _you back to the room by your hair."

"You wouldn't…" Louise raised her wand at me in warning but the words fell short. Her face scrunched in thought as she no doubt recalled the last few times she challenged me.

With a huff much like the one Kirche gave me, she snatched the sweatshirt out of my hand and began to put it on. She complained about how gross it was, which was understandable.

Quickly taking her hand, I pulled her away to circle around the Academy. It was going to take us a little while longer to return to the dormitories, but by doing so we would be avoiding the crowds. My Sentinel stayed behind to retrieve the weapons it tossed during the engagement and to watch my back should someone try anything while we retreated.

A little more than halfway through, I had to stop at the fountain within one of the courtyards. I couldn't really call it a fountain as there wasn't a sort of plumbing system installed to cycle the water, but rather it was a large pool with marble statues decorated at the center. For now, I shall call it a fountain because in my current state I can't think of what else to call it.

In any case, I approached, took in a deep breath, and dunk my head into the icy cold water. The water in this age is nowhere near pure as it is on Earth or Ilyvander. But my extreme dehydration didn't stop me from gulping down as much as possible. Even after quenching my thirst I just let my body lay over the edge with my head submerged. I don't know how much time had passed but it must have been more than enough for Louise to start tugging at the back of my shirt. I had heard her voice but couldn't comprehend what she was saying. At first it had been subtle, and then quickly growing frantic as I didn't respond. She tried pulling me out but there was no way she could have.

Once I decided to resurface my sudden jerk startled her enough to fall onto her bottom. Oh, she was yelling at me not to scare her like that, even continuing to call me 'familiar'. But I had tuned it out. I was still trying to recover. My eyes were closed as I focused on my body trying to purify the water I had just drank while hastening the process of distributing it wherever it was needed. I had also produced a lot of acid and had to focus on ridding myself of that.

I _really _hate using Burst commands.

Moments later, we had been able to return to Louise's room without coming across anyone else. Checking one last time, all of my seals and wards were still set up to keep noise from escaping as well as warn me in advance should anyone approach with the intention of doing anything to Louise— be it for good, bad, or for _any _other reason. And if those who had bad intentions towards Louise were to approach, then the trap will retaliate depending on the seriousness of those intentions.

In short, Louise would be safe for the remainder of the night. And the little pinklette didn't even know it.

"What did you need to talk about?" she said as she finished wiping herself down with a wet cloth before fitting into her nightclothes. She must have been recalling what I had said to Kirche.

"Tomorrow," was all I ground out before dragging one of the chairs towards the window. I sat down, leaned back until my head was against the windowsill, and made myself as comfortable as possible. The lukewarm radiance of the twin moons continued to rejuvenate me with the weakest form of Spirit. It was still welcomed as my body was desperate to bring me back to full recovery.

"So you'll be staying here tonight?"

I nodded with my eyes closed, not knowing if she saw my gesture or not. Sleep was drawing closer to me and I was allowing it.

"…Very well. Good night familiar."

I didn't respond, but my brow _did _twitch out of habit at this point. Whatever, I can deal with Louise in the morning. And as soon as the sun was up I could step out and begin my own investigation on what transpired this evening. I needed to know what he was after, why he was after it, and where he had gone off to. I also needed to reevaluate my impressions on the academy. What else did they have hidden away in their treasury? Why did they have something alluring enough to have a powerful thief come after it, at an academy for children at that? And why hadn't anyone else come to stop him?

Where, the _fuck, _is the stupid security?!

*Scene*

"_You're just like me, ain't ya?" _

My Sentinel gave a nod, the gesture it had learned when another being meant 'yes'. It could nod, it could shake its head, it could shrug— at the end all it had learned was how to appropriately answer yes or no questions.

"_Heh. It's been a while since I've seen armor with life in it. Nothing like the ones the mages of the day do now. If I knew better, I'd thought your handler was an Elf."_

A shrug.

"_Ya really can't talk all that much, can ya? No matter, no matter. I can see that yur learnin'. This ain't no Elven magic, is it? Your handler sure is something alright."_

Another nod.

"_Oh but believe me, I don't think I'll be talking to him anytime soon. Did ya see the way the guy was looking at me? Undressing me? Brr! Gives me the shakes, that it does. Felt like he was looking into my _everything. _And not just appraising me like some collector would— I mean he was going in… deep."_

A shrug.

"_And the kid did wandless magic at that. Well, he is your handler after all, and you're sure somethin'. Still, a bit green. He doesn't seem to be comfortable with himself just yet… but he's… something alright. Like someone who gained all his power without any of the experience to back it up… Heh. But what do I know? I'm just a sword. You probably know him better than I do."_

A pause. Then a shake.

"_Oh? He made you, didn't he? The way ya follow him I'd figure ya knew him for a long, long, long time. Your bond seems to be stronger than even some of the oldest of master-familiar ones. How old are ya anyways? Ya have the skill and tact of the most experienced of swordsmen, and ya communicate well with your handler. Ya understand him down to the finest detail. But you lack expression. Yur a strange one, ya know that?"_

Within this dream, I could only sigh. I'm not too sure what I was sighing about. Was it annoyance or was it grief? Late into the hour as the thrill had died down and everyone returned to their dens, my Jinni and Kirche's gift sword were sharing a moment together by the tree I usually slept under. The sword was doing all the talking while the white automaton was responding to the best of its abilities. It had yet to learn how to talk, but could replicate the gestures it had learned from the students it had watched.

Slipping out of the mind of my Sentinel, I returned to my dreamless sleep to allow my body to heal without further distractions…

*Scene*

"…And before we knew it, Foquet was gone," Louise concluded her part of the tale on what happened last night.

We had been gathered together— that is, Kirche, Tabitha, Louise, and I— right at dawn by the headmaster's secretary, a green-haired witch with glasses named Ms. Longuevuille. She had fetched every one of us and took us towards the headmaster's office to ask us questions regarding Foquet's attack. I had been wary, but hadn't sensed any mal-intent from her. It didn't stop me from preparing some Spirit and a few blueprints for offensive and defensive weaves just in case.

My body may have fully healed, but there was still some phantom pain once I started to channel Spirit again. The pain of being burned from the inside will do that to you.

"Tunnels under school," Tabitha elaborated a little further on why and how Foquet had been able to get away. Her words were short and precise, and they were vague enough to warrant some thought. However, if someone had the least amount of common sense, they could understand what she meant.

Gathered around us were all of the professors of the academy. The office was large enough to fit all of them, us, and a few more should any others decide to show up. And like any other room at this ludicrous academy, the room was lavish with carpets of rich color, rare wooden furnishings, oil paintings, glass decorations such as a chandelier over our heads and a few statue figures, and the tall windows behind the headmaster's desk. Like any office, it contained a large desk, another desk to the side for his secretary, a series of shelves against the wall filled to the brim with books of all kinds, chairs for guests, and a coffee table when sharing drinks and snacks.

The headmaster of the academy and I had shared looks as soon as I entered his office. I had seen this man before when I unraveled his scrying spell and I knew he had seen me do it. He was an old man of a frail build with long white hair that fell down his back and a long white beard that fell to the middle of his torso. He was dressed in violet robes— there was nothing else to note of this man other than he, noticeably, kept his wooden staff within an arm's reach at all times. His eyes were sharp due to his age, and it felt like there was more but couldn't be sure.

And then there was his familiar. A mouse. A simple little white mouse smaller than Louise's palm. I watched as it ran across the room as the meeting went on, tracing its path and wondering why it was roaming around. I also couldn't help but notice it seemed to stop right below the younger female professors, pausing, and then moved to the next one. And as the three girls went on with their report of last night, I watched as the mouse began to trek its way towards them. It stopped first at Kirche, looked up, paused, and then scurried its way again to Tabitha to repeat the process.

And as the headmaster, Old Osmond, listened intently on what happened last night, even going as far as responding with the occasional question, there was a twinkle in his eyes that I almost missed. Almost. Oh, this man was _good. _I finally understood what his little mouse was doing. As it scurried around, the headmaster was keeping track of its movements without having to directly look at it. So long as he kept it within his peripheral vision it was all that mattered. He also did exceptionally well at masking his reactions.

To be blunt, the man was a pervert.

When it was Louise's turn for the mouse to peer up its skirt, it froze. I looked down at the little vermin and watched as its eyes locked with mine. After Lolifor had the audacity to flirt with my sister, who was _twelve _at the time, I had gained an absolute-no-pervert policy. Especially against a filthy old man ten to twenty times the years of Louise. If it dared to look up and transfer the image to its master, there was going to be hell to pay. Simple as that.

It scurried away in great panic. Still, I should be weary of the creature. The mouse was _old. _I didn't need to switch into the vision of the String World to see that. But after doing so anyways, I had been able to see that there was more to it than just simple age. There was potent magic within its core. Magic far more damp than what its miniscule body should be able to contain. Like a liter bottle trying to contain an Olympic pool's amount. It defied many principles.

And if the mouse was so powerful, Old Osmond had to be its equal, if not greater. Regardless of the familiar runes, creatures of such power should be able to defy their masters. This also applied to the Laws of Summoning. It states the summoner must _always _be greater than the summoned.

There were exceptions to this law, of course. Such as someone stumbling upon a premade summoning circle with the appropriate amount of magic energy installed and calling upon a demon or greater deity. But those were always made to summon _specific _beings; unless the summoner was stronger than the summoned, then the summoned would _always _cancel the summoning once their interest was lost. And then there was the summoning rite of Champions in Ilyvander's Age of Magicians in which Sir Rolan was summoned thirty-something times by the most random of magicians. And the end result was most of them to be killed by him for wasting his time.

Regardless, it always left me curious on what it meant for Louise to have summoned me. Without a doubt I could kill the little mageling a hundred ways with just my bare hands. Apply my magic into the mix and I could do so with infinite possibilities. Even Louise's anti-magic affinity wouldn't be able to save her if I came at her with a mundane weapon. The familiar runes weren't anywhere near strong enough to bind me to her will and I was aware of their influence. Nothing save for my personal morality was keeping me from killing her. I'd hate to have to kill a young girl over something as silly as this. I'm no Sir Rolan. So there raised the question: what did it mean if I was her destined her familiar; or, did Louise use some sort of template in summoning me?

But what do I know? I'm getting off track anyways. There're more important things to worry about.

Old Osmond did not give any response to the way I looked at his familiar. He gave a hum in thought and stroked his long beard after listening to the report of the students. "This is most unfortunate," he began. "Foquet was able to steal the Staff of Destruction right under our noses. It's a good thing the Royal Messenger decided to return to his manor after his visit yesterday, else that would bring another series of troubles our way."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. No, no, we can't _possibly _have any government official know that the academy really screwed up and endangered the children it was trusted with to protect. Or the absolute lack of security in the first place.

"However," the headmaster brightened somewhat as he turned towards his green-haired secretary, "Ms. Longuevuille was able to find out the whereabouts of Foquet."

"Yes, headmaster," Longuevuille stepped forward and pulled a sheet of poorly made paper with a drawing of a figure on the front. It resembled the one I had seen last night. "I did an investigation as soon as I heard. A local nearby village had some of its hunters say to me that they had spotted a hooded figure passing through the forest. They suspect this figure was going towards the abandoned cottage. If we hurry, we may be able to catch up to Foquet before he leaves. It is only two hours away by horse."

"Right, and the capital is two hours away in the opposite direction," elaborated the headmaster. "If we try to call for guards it'll be six hours total, and by then Foquet will more than likely leave. No, we need to strike now. A golem of that size must have depleted his willpower and will need time to recover. This is something we will have to do on our own. So, who among you will have the honor of bringing Foquet to justice?"

…Oh for the love of…

And, of course, no one volunteered. Teachers looked at another much like the teenagers they watched over would have, daring one to step up or ridiculing the other for being about to. There was also the look of fear on all of them. No one wanted to confront Foquet, especially alone.

The one to raise their wand to volunteer was Louise. "Headmaster, because of my actions Foquet was able to enter the vault. I should be the one to bring him to justice."

A series of gasps followed after.

Kirche raised her wand immediately after. "I will go too." Her head turned to look down at Louise with a smirk across her face. "I can't have a Vallière of all people show me up."

And then, Tabitha raised her staff without having bothered to look up from her book.

"Tabi?" Kirche looked at her friend.

"Worried for you," was all she said in reply before turning a page with her thumb.

My eyes returned to the headmaster, who bore a proud smile on his face. "Yes this is most wonderful. The three of you are more than enough to go after Foquet. Tabitha is a young mage from Gallia of Triangle class who has already earned the rank of Chevalier."

More gasps were shared, even from Louise and Kirche. Tabitha did not react in any way as though she had not heard the headmaster's praise whatsoever. I, however, was intrigued, yet at the same time disgusted. She was just as old as Louise and had already gained the title of knight? By the way Osmond said it, it sounded like the title was something earned, not inherited like most positions of nobility. It would also explain why the girl was so… emotionless. It made me wonder, could she perhaps have experienced war?

"And Ms. Zerbst comes from a prestige family from Germania and is an excellent Triangle-class Fire mage."

Kirche gave a smug smile as her arms crossed under her breasts, adding emphasis to their depth as they were pushed up. Even I was surprised. Someone as young as Guiche had already mastered two to three tiers of their magic potential. Perhaps Kirche had more to her than her… charm. That, or I may need to reevaluate my understanding of this world's magic system.

"And Ms. Vallière…" the headmaster turned to give his praise to Louise. And Louise was ready for it with her head raised and a small smile of anticipation creeping. But no such thing came. Time drew out, the headmaster coughed, and began stroking his beard again. "Well… She's very persistent."

My poor summoner's pride came crashing down as she fell to her knees in despair. She began drawing symbols into the carpet as though some magic to cheer her up would trigger.

"That's right!" the bald-headed professor, Professor Colbert, stepped up from the corner of the room. An excited smile lit up his face as his eyes locked on to mine. "Her familiar is the legendary Gan—"

His hand came up to cut off whatever he was about to say.

The headmaster coughed loudly to bring the attention back onto himself before questions could be raised. "Yes, the three of you will go with Ms. Longuevuille to this cottage and retrieve the Staff of Destruction. If you can, reprimand Foquet but do not do anything that may endanger your lives. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" said the three girls as well as Longuevuille.

"Then if that is all—"

"You're all _pathetic_," I interrupted, venom spitting out of that last word.

Eyes turned my way. Teachers asked me generic things like 'how dare you' or 'who do you think you are'. To them, I was nothing more than a servant of Louise's; to some I was her Dishonored-Noble magic tutor and to others her personal guard. As such, I shouldn't be permitted to speak out of term, especially against the Nobility. Every one of these professors was of a Noble house and I had just insulted them.

"Familiar," Louise hissed under her breath. "Be quiet!"

I grimaced and brought my index and thumb fingers near her forehead. Her brows crossed as she became confused with what I was about to do. "One," I commanded for my potential to double. With it, I flicked her forehead.

Her head snapped back a little as my finger left a mark. Her hands cupped the tender bruise as she muttered "Ow, ow, ow" over and over again. Tears threatened to fall out of the corner of her eyes.

My eyes went towards Kirche, who flinched by the look I was giving her. "Ms. Zerbst, I cannot force you to do anything. But I _strongly _prefer to not go. Unless you have some sort of withheld potential you intently hid last night, you do not stand a chance against that Earth mage. Do not go on a fool's errand. The same advice goes to you, Tabitha. Though you may be a knight, unless you have a far more variant spell than Windy Icicle you can only do the same as you had last night."

Tabitha looked up at me for a moment, her expressionless eyes boring into mine and evaluating my words. After a moment, she nodded and then returned to her book. Kirche meanwhile tilted her head in thought while tapping her chin with a slender finger. She didn't respond as she was trying to draw out time to see what will happen next before coming to a decision.

"F-Familiar!" Louise ground out as the pain started to recede.

I brought my two fingers back to her brow again. She flinched and moved away from my proximity.

My eyes moved towards the headmaster, who was leaning against his desk with his hands cupped. He remained patient with an expression that permitted me to carry on with my words.

So I did, "It is not my place to criticize the workings of this institution, however I will not hold back my concern. From what little I have seen and experienced during the classes Vallière allowed me to accompany her with, I have seen _nothing _within these walls that teaches a magician military academics. Social etiquette, history, mathematics, economics and government, and magical theory are the only classes installed at this institute with five towers specializing in each of the elemental affinities but the common four only in use. And in their magical studies the only thing taught is how to direct their 'willpower' into practical use.

"This is a fine institution for future _researchers, _not soldiers. There are no training grounds, no dueling spaces, no tools or equipment to teach such matters, and _definitely _no teacher with the backbone to teach these Noble brats how to fight. As a neutral-standing academy in which welcomes students from all across Halkegenia, it is nothing short of a scandal if you began teaching military academia.

"Yet," my eyes narrowed as Spirit unintentionally began to flow through my veins. "You're perfectly fine with sending off students after a thief who had no problem attempting to kill them. As a teacher, no, as an _adult _you are in charge of protecting them. I cannot force Kirche or Tabitha to clean up _your _mistake, but Louise will _not _be going."

"What!" Louise shrieked in outrage.

"…If that is what you believe is best," nodded the headmaster. "But what about you? You're quite the formidable mage from what I've seen. There is a bounty on Foquet's head. Five thousand gold for his capture alive and five hundred dead. And I'm sure for retrieving the Staff of Destruction we can grant another five hundred."

"Five thousand gold?" I asked with interest in my tone. With the uniform and the materials yesterday costing two-hundred gold, I'm sure that amount could cover my living expenses for a while without having to further freeload off this place.

He gave me a nod.

I smiled back. "Well then, you'd best keep it and _hire some security._"

With that, I moved away from the desk, took Louise's hand even as she tried to pry it off, and dragged her out of the office.

"I'll probably be replaced for this," said the headmaster with a heavy sigh.

I stopped. My eyes narrowed in disgust. I knew what he meant by those words better than anyone. After looking at the man I knew what kind of person he was. A puppeteer with a fool's mask. Someone with a silver tongue who could talk his way out of any situation. Someone who could hide in plain sight and do as he pleased without worrying about drawing attention.

Another Lolifor, in other words.

"Headmaster?" Colbert questioned.

The old man went on. "Once word gets out that we were unable to stop Foquet from stealing from us as well as letting him get away, most from the House of Lords will be furious. Many of their children attend this academy after all. Once I'm booted out the door, a new headmaster will take my place of their choosing. And they will have to keep a close eye on the academy for a while. I suspect they'll have a no-tolerance policy. The students and the staff won't be able to fool around as much as I would have let them. They'll crack down on any disturbances. Hmm… but on the bright side, maybe then I'll be able to retire like I always wanted to."

"…Headmaster?" Colbert asked again with a worrying smile on his face.

My hand shattered the glass knob in my frustration as well as never powering-down. Better to crush it than Louise's wrist. He had said that part all for me. He was threatening both Louise and I with our secrecy. True word about me would eventually escape the academy walls, but Osmond was letting me know he would _personally _see to it that the knowledge would reach one of the highest positions of power.

One, I had threatened to kill a child of Nobility. And two, I had declared in front of all of those who saw that I was a King. Such things would not be tolerated in a military academy back on Earth— and no doubt the punishment would be more vicious in this Renaissance themed world.

"Everyone out," I growled as I released Louise and moved back to the desk. "Now!"

Heads were turned and sneers were exchanged as they still continued to question about my position. One look at all the teachers got them to shut up. Old Osmond nodded and repeated my demand. With some reluctance, everyone began to exit the room, including Tabitha and Kirche. Osmond gestured for Longuevuille to leave but gave a different gesture for Colbert to stay.

"You too," I said to Louise after Longuevuille passed me by. And as the pinkette was about to stamp her foot down and argue, I looked down at her and _glared. _I wasn't in the mood for argument. She backed away enough for me to shut the door.

A few weaves later had every corner of the room sealed shut. There was no point in trying to conceal my spellcraft as the old man had already seen it several times when spying on Louise and I. No one would enter, no one would leave, and nothing save bringing the walls themselves down could penetrate my wards. We were shut away from the world.

"I believe there are a few things we need to discuss," I began. "I don't know what your game is, but do not waste my time. I want straight answers. And I believe it all starts with why you chose to spy on me rather than try to protect your student, Guiche. It was within my power to kill him yet you did nothing let alone prepare a spell at the last second. And if he is here," I pointed at Colbert, "then I suspect it has something to do with what he was about to call me during this meeting. And if so then it has something to do with me being the only human familiar. And I also suspect it has something to do with Louise's obscure elemental affinity."

Solstice appeared in my grip. Colbert tensed as his brows came together. Osmond's hand twitched towards the direction of his staff, but he stilled it to remain on the armrest of his chair.

I planted the blade at my feet with my hands resting around its guard. It was there to show I was willing to listen but at the same time not afraid to attack should they try to talk their way out of this. I would not tolerate another Lolifor.

"Start talking."

*Scene*

"I still don't understand why I have to be here," whined Guiche for the… oh, for the umpteenth time. I had lost count a while ago.

"Because if I have to put up with this bullshit, then so do you," I chose to answer with rather than the much more mature responses I had come up with. Currently, my hand was cupped around my brow as I tried to contain my headache. A simple weave could have gotten rid of it, but with everything that was happening, it would more than likely come back with a vengeance. There was no point wasting Spirit and about fifteen commands to temporarily remove an unavoidable burden.

I had been given the short version of details pertaining Louise and I by Professor Colbert and Headmaster Osmond. Apparently, though all familiars are branded with runes somewhere on their body after their summoning, my runes were a unique series with a bit of a kick in it. The last human familiar was some six-thousand years ago by Founder Brimir himself. In short, Brimir had been able to brand _four _humans together as his familiars with each of them having unique abilities depending on their runes.

On my left hand were the runes of the Gandálfr, the Left Hand of God. According to legend, the Gandálfr was Brimir's vanguard while the mage stood far away in preparing his devastating magics. It is said the Gandálfr was able to master any weapon and had the potential to take on armies on his own.

Of course, legends are exaggerated. Other than the tug at the back of my mind to try to be a little nicer to Louise, there was no extra mystery installed in the runes. Brining Solstice and even placing it in my left hand activated nothing. Even reexamining the weaves in the String World I found nothing extra in its design. I could only guess I had more runes than the average familiar because I was human and had either higher intelligence, willpower, and/or magic defense to defy my _master._

If I was the real Gandálfr of legend, then that would make Louise the next coming of Founder Brimir. It would also explain her anti-magic affinity if she was aligned to the Void element. But if that was the case, then she should have no problem whatsoever when dealing with any of the other elements as Void was the indirect affinity which bound all things together. Maybe because she was trying a direct approach in her spellcraft rather than an indirect method?

Osmond needed to confirm whether she was a Void mage or not as well as if I was the Gandálfr, which was why he attempted to spy on us for the past few days. Due to her credibility of flunking each of her spells, even the headmaster was skeptical about whether she had truly summoned me and had staged everything. It was possible, to him anyways, that Louise stumbled upon a book in the forbidden Fenrir section of the library and saw the familiar runes of Gandálfr and decided to use them as a way to fool everyone.

Never mind people saw me _fall from the sky _while the runes were _burned into my skin. _Or (oh!) that my magic was _completely _different than , yeah, you know, people tend to believe whatever they want when their religion was put to question.

Which lead me here right now: sitting in the back of a small open wagon across of Guiche with Longuevuille steering dear Mercedes. I was told to either retrieve the Staff of Destruction or to at least reprimand Foquet the Crumbling Dirt. It was another opportunity for them to see if I really was Gandálfr or if Louise had faked the summoning and had hired me. And to make sure not a single detail was missed, the headmaster had his familiar, the mouse Motsognir, accompany us by riding on my shoulder. In exchange, I was still offered the monetary compensation of retrieving both the Staff and Foquet as well as Osmond continuing to conceal my existence from the outside world as long as possible.

I had to put my foot down about allowing Louise and the girls from coming along. I stood by my opinion that none of them were able to take on Foquet should things turn into a brawl. They would be a liability and too much of a distraction if I had to protect them while dealing with the thief mage. However, I had no problems dragging Guiche along with me.

However, it raised a question why Osmond allowed Longuevuille to join us. If she was sent to keep an eye on me then he wouldn't need to have sent his familiar. Or perhaps he trusted his familiar more than Longuevuille? Then there was no need to have her come along. So why was she here if Osmond already knew I could deal with Foquet on my own?

"Consider this a learning experience," I explained to Guiche a little more. "Your classes have been canceled today and you weren't doing anything anyways. As I remember, our agreement was for you to be under my services in times you were idle."

"Y-Yes, I recall…" Guiche slouched a little more. "But I would have felt a little more assured had you brought your golem with us."

"Jinni," I corrected. "I left it to watch over the academy while I was away and to keep an eye on Ms. Vallière. It's likely since all the commotion and with everyone so timid Foquet may use the tunnels to return to the school and steal some more."

"Eh?" Guiche didn't seem to understand. "Who in their right mind would try to steal from the Nobility a second time? And especially in the middle of the day? There's no need to have it guarding something that won't be broken into again so soon."

"And that right there is the reason why I'm keeping it where it is," my frown deepened. "Everyone has the same mindset. And because of it there is no security. As you say, who would dare to steal from the Nobility? Especially at a foundation with a gathering of magicians? Normally, such things filter out the timid. But you have a person like Foquet who has both bravery and common sense to figure out there is nothing to be worried about. He practically strolled in, took what he wanted, and could have easily walked away had my Jinni not destroyed his… golem."

Golem. I've never heard of the word before coming here. But if that's what they called magic constructs then so be it.

"You seem to have some experience with thieves, Mr. Philips," Longuevuille turned her head to look at me through the corner of her vision. "Were you by chance a mercenary or body guard before finding yourself in Ms. Vallière's services?"

"Neither," I answered with a shrug, causing Motsognir to stir in its sleep. I thought the little pest had to keep an eye on me. "I believe taking the moment to think of the situation and apply some common sense can provide an answer to even the most complicated problems. It's never failed me before. Most people tend to overcomplicate things and forget simple is best. Especially finding myself in Tristain— the Nobility think they're invincible with their magic. I've never seen more brittle people before in my life."

Longuevuille laughed at that, while Guiche wanted to argue but closed his mouth before realizing who he was about to try and correct.

A while later, we reached a fork and had to hike the rest of the way until we reached a clearing through the forest. Just like Longuevuille had said, there was a shabby looking cottage that needed some much needed repairs. I had Guiche surrounded the cottage with a few of his Valkyrie golems while Longuevuille scouted the area.

"One… Two…" Spirit surged through me as I amplified myself with two Gears as well as steadying my body with Craven magic. I was now seventeen times more durable and stronger in both physique and magic as well as mentally sharper.

With it, I kicked open the door, ducked low in the case of traps, and charged inside with Solstice in my hands. But it was all pointless as there was no signs of magic or even life other than a few insects. My eyes could not pick up traces that Foquet had even been here.

However, placed on top of what once was a bed was a rectangular case of wood. It was just sitting there as though waiting for anyone to pick it up.

…If this didn't scream trap I don't know what did.

My eyes did not pick up any magic traps installed and a little closer examination showed that there was nothing mundane like poison darts or the sorts. But they did show that there was something within the case, so Foquet had left it inside. But something deemed the Staff of Destruction did not emulate any magic, so I could only conclude it had been a decoy the thief made.

To make sure, I dismissed Solstice and opened the case…

…And closed it as I could not understand what I had just seen.

This was no magic instrument. I suppose, given the barbaric nature of this world, it would explain why this thing was called the Staff of Destruction. But from what Osmond had told me, it was a magic instrument capable of killing a dragon. It was a high-tech rocket-propelled grenade launcher made out of unidentifiable black chrome metal— a metal not found on the periodic table like my Djinn armory. What irked me was the quality of the metal. It had a ridiculous resistance to heat and pressure with a flexible nature to absorb tremendous force.

It also had _intense _resistance against all forms of magic, including my Spirit.

It was a cylindrical instrument much like any other rocket launcher, but had a fore grip, a HUD scope that could still be turned on, and five different settings which could instantly be accessed by _twisting _the barrel end. Now I had no idea what those settings were; I only knew they were there because of the numbers placed at the end with an arrow etched into the metal to show which mode it was currently set on. There also wasn't a place to insert ammo, so I had no idea what this thing really could shoot.

Regardless, this _clearly _wasn't something belonging of this world. Hell, this was top-secret high-grade military equipment when comparing it to Earth's technology. In this backwater world, this could be the most powerful weapon. Period.

I was so focused on the item that I didn't notice the strings below my feet had been shifting for quite some time. My eyes widened as I caught on and realized they were moving in the same manner last night when Foquet summoned his giant golem.

"P-Philips!" Guiche shouted in alarm outside.

"Three!" I grabbed the case and bolted out of the window, breaking the frame and glass with my skin too dense for any damage to be done against me. Seconds later, the cottage collapsed as a colossal sum of rock hammered down from above. My leap had taken me several feet away but even then the force of the eruption continued to push me away. No harm had been done onto me other than confusing my senses.

I rolled with the case tucked in my arms and brought myself back up onto my feet.

Towering over us was a golem of same design as last night. The only exception would have to be that this golem was nearly twice as large. Where it was a little over fifty feet before, now it was about a hundred. It's mass three times as thick to support its ridiculous size. Despite its lack of muscle and membranes, it moved faster than it did last night.

Like when it turned my way and began to swing its fists wildly.

"Four!" my fourth Gear activated and raised my full potential to fifty-nine times my mundane limit. With Spirit, Craven magic, the Gears, and my natural stamina, I was able to swerve around the clearing as I dodged its attacks. The ground was torn asunder and sent tremors. Guiche was already on the floor with his Valkyries shattering as they were blown away in the crossfire. Even with Craven magic applied to my footwork and to maintain my center of gravity it was difficult to remain standing. If I fell once then it would all be over.

Luckily the golem had its sights only on me, so Guiche was able to get away. On the downside, I was being viciously sought after without a moment of rest. With the ground continuously shaking, all of my focus was on keeping my balance. Patterns of weaves were waiting to be stitched in my head, but without a moment of breath I couldn't do much.

It also didn't help that I, like the idiot that I am at times, continued to hold on to the stupid case.

I could, however, perform instant commands with the Gift of Craft. Spears of fire which exploded on impact were launched while I continued to travel away from the golem. But they did not slow it down and what rock my spells were able to blow off was immediately repaired by Foquet, wherever the devil was. The rock construct continued to swing its fists my way, even as I took the chance to run into the trees to use them to hide my presence. Alas, Foquet must have been using the ground to sense my footing because the golem never lost track of me.

It probably wasn't a good idea to return to the forest. I was endangering the wild life here and Longuevuille was scouting around the area. What if I drew it to her by mistake?

On the bright side, it might work both ways if I stumbled upon Foquet.

Wood splintered everywhere with the next strike with enough force to kill a normal man. Most bounced off of me, but a large trunk slammed into my side, knocking me off my feet while bruising two of my ribs. That second of helplessness was more than enough for the golem to bring both its fists down on my location.

"Five!" I ground out and bit down on my lip to draw blood. With the fifth Gear active, my body was now starting to feel the pain of exerting far too much even with such safety measures like Craven magic. But that one Gear saved my life as my reaction time sharpened. While still flying through the air because of the tree, I dug my fingers into the earth and sprung my wrist in a completely different direction. Fingers broke as they not only suppressed force a thousand times its limit but also generated a counter amount to fling me away.

When the golem brought its two fists down to crush me, I was barely outside its range. More rocks, dirt, and trees erupted and sent me tumbling uncontrollably. But I forced myself to focus on my surroundings, dug my heels into the ground, and leapt here and there in order to regain my balance. I had been able to turn something which could confuse anyone into a pseudo launchpad.

The golem didn't stop there. It twisted its body and dragged its large arm across the field, breaking trees easily as it sought after me more.

With another kick, I leapt forward and up, landed on its arm, and used it to launch myself further away.

Immediately, it turned to pursue.

But _finally _I was far enough to lay out some serious damage.

In the middle of the air, well over even some of the tallest of trees, I spun around to face the golem several meters away from me. But with it charging, it would be upon me in a matter of seconds. And with only one hand, because I _still _had this stupid case on me, even with the Gift of Craft, my options were limited in this short time.

Spirit surged through my veins and out of my fingertips, folded, twisted, knitting into coils of ethereal strings. The Gift of Craft came alive and blazed its geometric wings at my command. My left hand turned and rolled its wrist as my fingers flicked around blindly fast.

With a final throw of my arm, a missile of blue light fired at the golem, creating a sonic boom at its launch. Also ringing my ears, but my natural defenses kept me from going deaf. Before I could so much as blink, the projectile struck the golem between its 'eyes', even sending it reeling back with blunt force. Rock flew everywhere and the sound of impact could be felt at my distance.

Then, the magic kicked in.

Spikes of ice sprouted from the point of impact and grew from there. While the surface was being coated in a dense layer of ice, the magic was rooting itself inside the golem. It was drilling through the construct, making its own thorn-like veins. I watched as I started to descend from my jump how the golem was slowing down until it could no longer move its limbs.

An inertia dampening barrier was spun before I came crashing down. At five Gears and the Gift of Craft active, the spell was several times more efficient than the one I first made when summoned by Louise. I had been able to land nimbly on my feet while my barrier took all the force.

The fingers in my right hand had healed and I could now move them. It meant I could weave some of my more intricate spells should the need arise. I did not power-down as Foquet was still within the area and could construct another golem. He might not be able to do so at the same level as the one he just made, as it must have cost so much internal mystic energy (called Willpower by these people), but he could still create something to retrieve the Staff of Destruction.

So, I kept the case under my arm and kept my Gears wound. If the weapon was so important to the thief, then he'll try to get it back. My eyes switched into the String World as I began to look for the mage. I found Guiche still staying in the clearing with a few of his Valkyries standing guard. And I found Longuevuille at the opposite end deep in the forest squatting on a branch high in the trees. But where was Foquet? He had to be within the vicinity in order to keep an eye on his golem.

Before I could weave a tracking spell using the golem's signature as a medium, a howl from the skies made my heart drop down to my stomach.

"Kyuuuu~" Tabitha's dragon flew over my head coming from the direction of the academy. Riding on its back was Tabitha, of course, Kirche, and… Louise.

I was disappointed with Tabitha and Kirche being here, but I did say I had no right in keeping them away. Perhaps they found a way around Foquet's golem and that was why it took them so long to get here. However, I was furious with Louise. She had no right to be here as she lacked the mental fortitude both her classmates had.

I also wanted to know how the hell she was able to leave without my Sentinel noticing.

More dread filled me as I watched Louise point her wand at the golem and begin her series of incantations. Kirche was the one to turn her head and question what she was doing, but didn't so much as try to stop her. Tabitha didn't move her eyes away from the construct either.

"Louise!" I shouted, my voice amplified by magic. "Don't!"

But, of course, my summoner didn't listen. I watched as she finished her incantation, flicked her wand, and another invisible concussive force struck at the golem's torso. The shell of my ice prison shattered and began to unravel as the patterns that made it were falling apart. It had stopped after a short while, but the hole left was enough to give the golem some room to move. It jerked once, shattered some of the ice within itself, and then jerked once more to crush the remaining bindings.

It was free and the hole made by Louise was repairing itself. And all three girls were shell-shocked by what they just saw.

I should take the moment to create a much more formidable spell to bind the golem, or something less flashy to have it crumbling apart. I should make a dismantling weave to undo the magic keeping the thing in formation. I should probably also activate one more Gear while I'm at it.

"Uggggghhhhhhhhh."

Instead, I was leaning against a tree with one hand over my forehead trying to suppress the monstrous headache pounding my skull. No amount of healing magic could fix this one.

The golem came alive and started to swing its fists around, trying to swat the dragon out of the sky. I began running, crossing through trees at high speeds. Though Tabitha did well at steering her familiar, the twists and turns were too fierce for the others holding on. With one swing that forced the dragon to jerk away at the last instant, Louise was thrown off the back and flung through the air. Tabitha commanded her dragon after Louise, but was too distracted with the golem to pursue.

If I hadn't been moving already, I would have never had made it.

With another inertia dampening field, I dove in time to have Louise in my arms, dropping the Staff of Destruction in the process. We tumbled, rolled, and I hit a boulder while protecting her head and neck. But my spell absorbed most of the major damage. At worst, a few bruises will appear here and there. And my sudden catching of her didn't give her a concussion.

"Louise what do you think you're doing here?!" I snarled as soon as we stopped fumbling.

She didn't respond. Her hands were clenched tight around my clothes as she was shedding heavy tears.

I couldn't stay here and try to comfort her. Foquet's automaton was still rampaging near us. Tabitha was doing well at keeping it distracted, but sooner or later it was going to come back towards me. So long as the Staff of Destruction was within my reach I was putting Louise in danger.

"Louise," I gripped her shoulders and sent a small surge of Spirit through her to get her attention. "I need you to get away from here. It is not safe! You _can't _help! You're putting yourself in danger. I can't protect you so _leave. _If you can do that then I will do _anything_ for you. Just stay safe! Please Louise. I don't want you to get hurt!"

Our eyes locked for a short moment. However, I didn't have the time to confirm if she would listen or not. I pushed her off of me, climbed to my feet, and began moving back towards the golem. In the short while, Tabitha had been able to draw it away from us— whether this was intentional or not I couldn't tell. But she was continuously bombarding it with her trademark Windy Icicle with Kirche throwing chains of fireballs as well. Of course, neither of the spells were doing anything other than chipping away a few pebbles that would replenish itself seconds later.

With two hands and the Gift of Craft, I wove hundreds of red spheres no bigger than my fist. They were all single-command spells which would explode upon contact at the level of explosive-round bullets. Alone, they could do very little against something like this. But continuous fire by the hundreds?

With a mental command, I unleashed all of them at once. The result was a firestorm blowing away large chunks of the construct's back and continuously drilling away at it before it could repair itself. However, it was never my intention to destroy this thing just yet. Something that size would require a great deal of time for me to create a weave of deconstruction. I doubt Tabitha would be able to keep up dodging for the amount of time needed.

I had been able to get the creature's attention. It turned its way towards me and immediately returned to try and turn me into paste.

With five Gears, dodging as well as keeping my balance was no longer a problem. But my body was starting to tire having to produce leagues of tiers of my maximum potential. Muscles were becoming sore despite how quick they were regenerating, my headache from such intense focus was growing, and my veins felt like they were on fire for pumping so much Spirit. Nonetheless, I was able to leap away plenty enough get enough distance from the golem. It continued to follow me despite it being unable to catch me.

Once more, with the Gift of Craft flaring on both hands, I spun my fingers and wove my arms over another for the dismantling weave needed to finally be rid of this thing. With its size as well as the intricacy which kept it moving, kept its rocks bound, and the magic causing said rocks to reform, a lot was needed for the appropriate counter-spell.

Yet, at the last instant, before I was about to fire the spell, the golem stopped chasing after me and began to turn away. Its interest drawn away by something else. Not by Tabitha and Kirche as they still threw their spells at it. But…

West. Back towards Louise.

"No!" I brought my hands together and fired my spell after finishing converting it into a projectile.

A smoke-like wisp surrounded by black thorns spiraled through the air from my hands. I should have augmented it with a speed-enhancing weave as it was traveling much slower than my previous ice bomb spell. Because of it, the golem lifted its arm to intercept the attack. My spell struck and stuck itself into the tip of its fist.

Fortunately, that was all it needed.

My spell came alive as the mist sank into the rocks and the thorns dug into the surface. Loud popping noise was heard across the forest as the magic binding the construct was becoming undone. The large boulders making up its fist began to crumble into dirt and sand and fall down. My magic traveled up the arm and continued the process.

But my eyes widened as suddenly the entire arm fell off before my spell could reach its torso. I ground my teeth in frustration as Foquet had quickly pieced together what was happening and had decided to remove the arm before the damage could have been done. It was a brilliant move, if not annoying. Truly, Foquet was a highly skilled and very experienced battle mage.

It also didn't stop the golem from continuing its path towards Louise. The loss of its arm had it lose its balance and stumble, but it kept upright and continued to wobble forward. New rocks from the ground were flying up to make a new arm to rebalance itself.

"Louise!" I shouted in fear. My feet kicked off the ground as I sprinted back towards her location. I threw more explosive-round spheres at the golem in an attempt to regain its attention, but it ignored my attacks despite having chunks of its body chipping away.

Because, when I gained enough distance to be able to see her, Louise was trying to use the Staff of Destruction like an actual magic instrument. She was muttering her incantations while waving it around, her brows were together in frustration and her eyes only focused on the rocket launcher. She was so caught on trying to cast magic with it that she didn't seem to see the giant monstrosity of doom trekking towards her.

Or that it was bringing its new fist down to crush her.

"SIX!" My heart nearly burst as I activated another Gear. My strength, agility, focus, and magic potential was amplified further at the cost of burdening my body even further. Blood dripped down my nose as I felt something inside me _tear. _

But I had been able to reach her. However… I was not quick enough to push her out of the way. With Solstice in my grip, I put it between us and wove a defense barrier.

I rushed the inertia dampening spell and surged too much Spirit into it, making it denser but at the same time more brittle. The result was most of the force had been absorbed, but there was still the natural weight of several tons of rock. My barrier came crashing down upon impact and I felt the weight of the world crush me. But I kept on my feet else crush Louise behind me, nothing but the unbreakable Solstice as well as its mystic properties keeping me from going splat. The ground crumbled apart below yet I still refused to go down.

Something sharp triggered in the back of my head. Miles away, my Sentinel stirred. It sensed my life was in danger. Without a shred of hesitation, it charged straight for my location all the way from the academy. Though I doubt it would make it in time to do anything.

It didn't help that both my arms were broken and it felt like something inside me shattered. Solstice fell out of my hands and dispersed back inside its sheath in the pocket dimension. When the golem lifted its arm back up, I fell to my knees. The world spun around me and darkness invaded my vision. I coughed and it hurt. Something thick and metallic was forced out of my throat. The endless adrenaline pump of my Gears was the only thing keeping me conscious. Though they were hastening my regeneration process, I was rendered helpless at the moment.

"A…A-Artemis…" I heard Louise whisper so softly that it might have been a dream.

I couldn't focus on her. My attention was still on the golem. I feared the worst; that it would bring another swing of its mountainous fists down to crush us both. There would have been nothing I could have done to stop it. Yet, strangely, it was hesitating. Throughout this entire battle, if it could be called that, the golem was sending endless barrages without restraint. Why was it pausing at this one moment?

Was it because Foquet didn't want to damage the Staff of Destruction?

"A-A-Artemis," Louise sniffed as she couldn't stop crying this time. "I-I'm so sorry… I should have listened to you…"

She tried to tug at me to pull me away. She didn't realize I was probably three times her weight or that even if she could drag me that I would only slow her down. No, this was one of those rare moments when Louise was selfless.

And as she tried to get a good hold of me, the Staff of Destruction rubbed against my back.

The runes on my left hand began to shine.

_Power. _Power surged through me. Raw, untainted power. My focus returned, my body no longer felt tired, I felt like I was returned to my prime and then hardened, sharpened, given _something _to make up for what I lacked. Knowledge flowed through my mind as though it had always been there. No, not untapped memories, but… experience. Yes, experience was a good word. It felt like my body knew what it needed to do and at the greatest efficiency.

My arms and hands may have been broken, but it didn't stop me from grabbing the _7-12 Mjornir _out of Louise's hands. The scope came on, the capsule within began to charge as I twisted the setting to mode-4: anti-bunker burst explosion with _Tinker G-7 _grenade module sliding into the chamber. At the same time, I pushed off my knees to slide away from Louise as I aimed the Mjornir at Foquet's golem.

It took me less than a second, as though I had been trained to use this. As if I had used this against the several bunkers, forts, and demi-humans this weapon had faced before. As if I was the Tactical Hunter who bore this before me. As if I had used this my entire life and knew it better than my right arm.

With a squeeze of the trigger, my body naturally braced itself through the guidance of the runes.

Foquet didn't have a chance to command his golem for anything. Mjornir fired off a grenade from its barrel and traveled far faster than any previous rocket launcher I had ever seen in real life and in exaggerated movies. The Tinker grenade had reached the center of the torso faster than I could have blinked, and even my enhanced senses had difficulty tracking its movements. Were this thing ever aimed at me then I doubt I'd be able to dodge in time or put up any sort of defense.

Because, my mind was telling me, Mjornir was designed for facing abominations such as the likes of Sir Rolan and his kind.

The grenade exploded as any normal grenade would have. But it did not stop there. The debris suddenly stopped mid-flight. Without warning, it came crashing back in as the strike _imploded, _and thus created an even more devastating explosion afterwards.

And then it began to implode _again._

I spun around and wrapped Louise around my arms as I used my body to shield her as much as possible. When the implosion finished, a grand explosion shook the air. Anti-bunker, indeed. The blast was more than powerful enough to send us flying. Rocks struck my back hard enough to break through my skin.

But the end result was… glorious, if not frightening. As my regeneration kicked in enough for me to be able to stand once more, and after making sure Louise was safe with nothing more than a few nicks here and there, I examined the field. Nothing remained except for an open field of smoothed-out terrain several meters in diameter. And then probably for a quarter of a mile wide, trees were knocked down or outright uprooted.

But most definitely, nothing remained of the golem.

Yeah, I can see why it was called the Staff of Destruction in this world. That thing could _definitely _kill a dragon.

Without the Mjornir launcher, the runes had dimmed down and their… augmentations died down. My body felt heavy and I suddenly felt faint. But I suffered through it and deactivated two Gears to stabilize my body. Without such a major threat like Foquet's golem, there wasn't a need to burden my body so much. As soon as I could determine the situation I would then decide if I needed to deactivate the others, at a gradual pace of course. Suddenly turning them all off would be almost as bad as the emergency Burst command last night.

"Louse," I lifted the little girl up to her feet. "Are you alright?"

Louise couldn't respond. Her eyes were so wide and her mouth was hung open as she was too busy staring at the devastation behind me. "W-W-W-W… H-H-H-H… Wh-Wh…" she said and so forth for quite some time.

I scowled but ran my fingers through her hair. A great feeling relief flooded through me knowing she was unharmed. I'll let the runes dictate my emotions for the moment and comfort her— I'll _scold _her about this when things have cooled down.

Speaking of runes… My eyes traced down the Gandálfr markings sharing my left Gift of Craft tattoos. Osmond said the Gandálfr had the ability to master weapons, but my eyes hadn't been able to trace any hidden abilities. I wish I could have seen them while they were active— perhaps there were some things were hidden even in the String World.

Yeah, and maybe Lolifor will start dating someone _his age. _Everything is made of strings. _Everything. _If my eyes can't see it, then it doesn't exist. Period. No exceptions. Several Primordial beings and one Original had already confirmed this.

"Kyuuu~" the sound of Tabitha's dragon… um… roared? Roared as it came down close to us. Upon landing, both Kirche and Tabitha immediately dismounted.

"Darling!" sang Kirche with a glint in her eyes that saw me in new light. I had seen that look. If I was amazing back then, I was now some walking god. Great. "You truly must be a magnificent mage if you could use the Staff of Destruction! I had heard no one was capable!"

That's because you people thought it was a _magic _weapon.

"I'm glad you're both safe," I said with a sigh as I removed my hand from Louise's head. "I was worried you were swept up in the blast range."

"Wind shield," Tabitha elaborated quietly as she chose to stare at me and not read her book. She blinked as though it was her way of expressing she was thinking, and perhaps it was. She concluded with, "Almost did."

"M-Master Philips!" Guiche's voice reached us as he was running towards us with a flock of his constructs behind him. When he was close enough, he slowed his pace down to a walk. "You were able to defeat Foquet's golem! I saw the whole thing! T-Truly you are a frightening mage."

"Guiche," I nodded towards him and decided to just accept the compliment. "I'm glad you're not hurt."

"Eh?" he looked at me as if he wasn't expecting my words. Reasonable, as I had been nothing but harsh towards him the past few days. "You are not angry I had stayed away?"

I shook my head. "No, in fact I'm impressed you did. It doesn't make you a coward, Guiche. It means you're not as stupid as I thought you were." He flinched. "You had the common sense to realize you were no match and stayed as far away as possible. You could have taken the horse and booked it back to the academy, but you decided to stay and see it to the end. So thank you for that. You did something of worth… unlike _some people._"

My eyes swiveled around to the girls around me. Tabitha gave no reaction, of course. Kirche looked offended. And Louise flinched and hung her head so her eyes were hidden beneath her bangs. Well, at least Louise knew she was at fault. Perhaps there was hope for her yet.

And perhaps I had given Guiche too much praise. He stuck his head up and had one hell of a smirk across his face.

"But you were useless throughout this endeavor," I knocked him off his pedestal before he reverted back to his old self. I waved it off his reaction of despair as there was something much more important to deal with at the moment. "We need to find Foquet and Ms. Longuevuille. And the Mjor— Staff of Destruction. It flew somewhere during the blast."

"You needn't look far, _King _Philips."

My brows creased as I spun on my heels to face Longuevuille approaching us with the Mjornir in her hands. Her pleasant tone was gone and had been placed with one of malice. A large smirk pressed her lips as her eyes were filled with murderous intent. Sweat beaded her brow and she looked a little pale.

Suddenly, things started to make sense.

"Ah, Ms. Longuevuille," Guiche smiled with his usual charm as though such things would work on her. "You've found the Staff of Destruction. Did you by chance find Foquet's location?"

"…You are Foquet, aren't you?" I questioned.

Attention was drawn to me, but I ignored them. My eyes were focused on the thief before me. Her smile grew at my question.

"Oh?" Her smile grew even more. "Weren't you the one to say most people overcomplicate things? That common sense is usually the best answer? If you practice what you preach then you may have been able to figure that out before reaching the cabin."

"Ms. Longuevuille…?" began Kirche.

"Is Foquet?" finished Louise.

They all raised their wands and Tabitha her staff, but before any of them could utter a single word, Foquet pointed the Mjornir directly at us. Everyone, including me, froze. More sweat began to surface. Why? Because Mjornir had some extra ammunition and Foquet had been able to see me use it, if the way she was handling it was anything to go by. One eye fixed on the scope, one hand on the fore grip, another at the trigger, and the shaft resting on her shoulder. Even her legs were spread about adequately to support herself for the ignition.

The woman had all of our lives at the palm of her hand. The speed the grenade could travel was faster than I could be able to react at _six _Gears. Now rendered to only four, I was powerless to stop her.

"Everyone… drop your foci," I ordered.

"A-Artemis?!" Louise blanched.

"Eh?!" questioned Guiche.

"Darling?!" gasped Kirche.

Tabitha gave no audio retort, but I still felt her react in the same way… somehow.

I raised my hands in surrender. I haven't felt so weak before since before acquiring my magic and Sorcery, at the time when I was nothing more than a mundane high school student. It goes to show even beings as unbelievable as the Ilyvander Kings could be subjugated if given the proper conditions. This was no exception.

"Cute," I broke out in cold sweat as Foquet pointed the Mjornir directly at me. "But I can't have any survivors."

She twisted the barrel in the same manner that I have, rotating it to mode-1. I've no idea what mode that was, whether that was better or worse. A majority of information regarding that weapon had faded from my mind other than its name and vague history. But it's not like it was going to save me in the end. Foquet was dead-set on killing us all. She was a good distance away and could no doubt gather more once the first explosion-implosion combo began.

All I could do was use a Burst command and weave the quickest barrier I could just to make it in time to provide any defense. It might not even be strong enough to save us. But it was my only option and had to _pray _that it worked.

The sound of rumbling, birds flying away in the great distance, and a roar of some kind was coming from over the horizon. Smoke was in the distance, trees were being blown around. And getting closer faster than the speed of a bullet. It was enough for Foquet to look away for an instant.

…I had completely forgotten my Jinni Sentinel was coming for my location.

She panicked and fumbled on her footing to turn and redirect the Mjornir at her new target. Without so much as a further thought, she pulled the trigger and fired one of the missiles at whatever was coming right at her.

This shot was just as fast as the last, but that did not stop my Sentinel from deflecting it over its shoulder with the side of the rusty Fae blade. Rather, it had skillfully pushed the projectile up high enough to miss it and without detonating it. The process had been able to have it stall for a millisecond, but its pause was nearly missed as it kicked off the ground again towards Foquet, albeit at a much slower speed.

"_**Don't kill her," **_I gave it a mental command.

The thief gasped in horror as my Jinni avoided absolute death with but a flick of a sword. It was enough for the white doll to reach her, tackle her, pry the weapon from her hands, and pin her to the ground with her hands behind her back.

Meanwhile, a glow in the distance proved how… terrifying mode-1 would have been. The projectile had continued to travel until it eventually hit something. That something happened to be the side of a mountain dozens of miles away. The blast was visible at this distance and in three seconds the pop of the explosion had reached us. I couldn't tell how big the radius of the blast was… but even Foquet would have been caught if she fired it at us.

The Mjornir was something that didn't need to be locked away. It needed to be destroyed.

Foquet tried to squirm free, but my Jinni's grip was absolute. She was only giving herself more pain and if she continued to struggle then she would force her joints to dislocate.

"Foquet the Crumbling Dirt," I sighed at her title, also using it to calm myself down from the fear still lingering in me. "I'll be placing you under arrest and will _personally _see to it the local law enforcement detains you. I'm giving you to the authority to be tried for your crimes. This could have been avoided if you just walked away."

"It serves you right for what you have done, thief," sneered Guiche.

"…Shut up Guiche."

Of course, Foquet began to laugh as she found my words ironic. "You expect me to believe you would have let me walk away after everything?"

"…We were at your mercy," my voice was grave. "I'm not so petty as to come after you for vengeance. But it won't stop me from learning from this. I'd have been better prepared if you showed up ever again. However, I don't expect anything from you. My words are whatever; you can take them as you please."

With a nod, I commanded my Sentinel to lift her off the ground.

As soon as it stood, its head shattered into thousands of fragments.

The sound of a bullet traveling at supersonic came _after _the impact.

Sharp pain, so fierce and so intense that I lost track of my surroundings, stabbed into my brain. I was probably on the floor and screaming, or I was suffering a stroke and relieving my bowels. I didn't know. Memories, feelings, experiences, knowledge, layers upon layers of information were cramming itself into my head like a thousand needles with superheated tips. Every single microscopic existence my Sentinel had witnessed was forcing its way in. And there was nothing I could do to stop it. Every detail of every second since its birth was branding itself into my brain worse than when the familiar runes had.

Just as fast as it came, it ended. But there was one lingering thought that haunted me.

_~Did I please you… Father?~ _so thought my Jinni as it had faded from existence.

I was on my knees, gripping my head and digging my nails through my scalp hard enough to draw blood. Reality felt like nothing but a dream as though I was on hallucinogenic drugs. I was confusing what I was seeing with what I remember, confusing past and present. I couldn't tell who I was for a second. I could have been anyone. I could have been [107 Blade-class Sentinel] or I could have been Godking Dalang or I could have been Artemis James Philips.

It took me a moment to gather myself. I was not a Jinni, I told myself. My name is Artemis. And I am also Godking Dalang, Lord of the Djinn, a King of Ilyvander.

…And the familiar of Louise… Louise the White of Vallière… I think…

My eyes looked up at the two figures before me. The first I recognized as Foquet the Crumbling Dirt, but could not recognize what she was to me. She was no friend, that was sure. But… was she a threat? She had to be, her wand was pointed at me.

The second was standing beside her holding on to the Staff of Destruction, the 7-12 Mjornir, in one hand with another placed over Foquet's hand, stopping her from casting a spell. He was dressed in head to toe in black exoskeleton armor made of the same materials as the Mjornir. It was form fitting, with plating over his torso and the majority of his joints. By design, it was meant for maneuverability. A black dome-like helmet hid his face.

He wasn't alone. Surrounding us were more of these black armored figures holding assault rifles and military-grade pistols at the teenagers behind me, forcing them onto their knees with their hands behind their heads. I don't know what happened or how it came down to this. I don't know how long I was out of it before I could make sense of things.

"Who are you?" Foquet demanded of the one next to her.

The figure did not respond. Its intent was as undetectable as its presence. As my eyes switched into the String World, I could barely make out the strings that made up his form. I couldn't tell _what _he was. I could only see a certain pattern make up a vague detailing of his form. It was like staring at a colorless mist that could only be seen if you knew where to look. He was like an illusion, completely hidden away from all manner of detection yet within plain sight at the same time.

It was like he didn't exist.

"Gandálfr, King of Tristain," his head nudged the slightest towards me, _permitting _me to know it was addressing me. "I am the Predator of Albion, the Lífþrasir."

My brows knitted together. Thinking was still difficult, let alone trying to come up with a weave to turn the tides of this. Four of my Gears were still wound and my Spirit was still flowing through my veins. Yet I couldn't manage myself to create a weave on the spot.

Lífþrasir snapped his fingers. I watched as his black goons just… faded into black smoke. Like they were all magic constructs that he could will to appear and disappear at his will. Perhaps they were nothing more than illusions to begin with.

It didn't matter. He must have something hidden beyond my vision. There was still whatever it was that had managed to kill my Jinni and I didn't see any rifle on him.

"Beware the King of Romalia, Vindálfr," he said.

"Wait!" Louise was the one to shout. "Who are you?!"

He didn't respond, let alone look in her general direction. All he did was grab onto Foquet's arm and…

"What are you—" Foquet began but was cut off.

Because they both blinked out of existence.


	4. Fifth Predator Philips

**A message from the author!  
**

This chapter is relatively shorter than usual. It's considered an intermission and **is not in the point of view of Artemis. **Thought I should say that before people flip out in confusion. This chapter takes place in third person. Next chapter we go back to Artemis' POV.

I also made this short so I could get it out of the way and work on my other projects. I also plan on explaining things a lot more in my next author's note.

Before I begin, this chapter goes into detail regarding the Lifbrasir we just met at the end of the previous chapter. It explains who he is, how he got here, and why the familiar is here rather than how the natural Lifbrasir comes to be in canon. It also goes into detail on what he can do. Mostly so for when I use him in later chapters you guys can understand what's going on instead of what I tried to pull at the end of last chapter. I'm terribly sorry if I confused you.

However, because I think I'm a total troll, this chapter may rise more questions than answers. And cause the flipping of many coffee tables...

But thank you everyone for reading this. And thank you those who are just joining in.

Please enjoy.

* * *

**Intermission**

**The Black Beast of Albion**

_Within the floating mainland of Albion, there is a forest in the western territory neighboring the city of Saxe-Gotha. Within the confines of trees which made up the Westwood forest was a small village not used for progressing of life but for housing tree cutters. It was the second largest production area in which distributed Albion's supply of lumber. However, thanks to a time of peace and no longer requiring the lumber to craft Albion's fine naval fleet, the village was abandoned. Still, its buildings as well as a few tools remain._

_ When the Holy Movement of Reconquista began to spread to threaten the lives of the Nobility, the king of Albion ordered an arms race and reinforce his already mighty naval fleet. In doing so, more lumber was required and so new workers were hired to be sent off towards the Westwood Village._

_ Only to find it inhabited by a monster._

_ Men had fled from the monster's first warning, whispered through the wind as soon as they stepped through the trees. The more courageous fled after pacing closer towards the village and catching a glimpse of its shadow— blacker than the deepest pits of Hell. And the idiotic were devoured as they stepped too close to the village— killed before their screams could escape their throats._

_ The king hired mercenaries, commanded Lords, even sent off his second-eldest to get rid of this unknown beast. And the same result came about through every exhibition. But there were those who had seen the beast in person, who had fled as it was distracted devouring their comrades, and told tales of its horrendous existence. They were all rendered bumbling madmen, repeating over and over on how black it was. Even the prince had succumbed to madness and hanged himself, fearing the monster did not like how he had escaped and would stop to no end to hunt him down._

_ Eventually, the king, no longer caring at this point over the treasure of lumber but now wanting revenge, sent a small army to be rid of this threat once and for all. He deployed cavalry, archers, spearmen, and mage commanders. He wouldn't dare take a chance if this monster could previously defeat some of the king's Triangle and a rare Square mage._

_ This time, no soldier lived._

_ And that night, the Black Beast of Albion visited the king in his chambers._

_ The king was never the same after that. One might say he was a completely different person. The king became rational as he took his interest in crushing the Reconquista rebellion. He sat down with his commanders, went over plans, issued some of his own, and discussed potential threats among his advisors and the other royal princes. It was noticed by all his plans revolved around avoiding conflict within Westwood forest. Some might speculate he was protecting it. Perhaps, if the queen were still alive, she might have said it was the Beast wearing the king's corpse._

_ To a certain extent, she would have been correct._

_**And such was how the legend of Albion's Black Beast came to be.**_

_ Meanwhile, should anyone be able to lurk within Westwood undetected, they will find the Beast hard at work protecting those who dwell within. Corpses were disposed of before the children could have stumbled upon them, the occasional wanderer or skeptic was dealt with in the usual manner, and the Beast's master was kept unaware of its… habits._

_ And as the Black Beast dragged its latest victim towards the pit to be burned, one would notice two things. The first was always the most obvious. The corpse it dragged away was always a clean cut— whether it be a cut artery or a bullet wound— but there were those that had the Beast's trademark strike, albeit rarely. Like this corpse, who was formerly a messenger who chose to ignore the warnings and cut through Westwood to shorten his delivery time._

_ His right eye was missing. It was always the right eye on these rare victims._

_ The second thing one would notice, and this one was something no one would ever see as the body was always burned to ash, was what the Beast would do afterwards with the right eye._

_ It was unspeakable, but in the end, this messenger would be seen the next day proceeding with his life as though he had never wandered into Westwood._

_ However, one might question how this was to be when his corpse was rendered to ash…_

_ And one would question how many other imposters there were under the Beast's control…_

_ *_Scene*

Lieutenant Douglas Spencer had heard the rumors flying around lately about some monster lurking within the Westwood forest. He called it all folly. It was something the king and his men had come up with to scare the timid from crossing the region and into his territory. It was sad how the once headstrong Nobility had fallen so far as to weave such a tale to halt Reconquista's advance, if not by a little. In the long history of the Spencer family lasting more than thirty generations, Douglas was more than sure there was never such a thing that had existed within the Westwood forest. There was never a creature matching its description existing within the past five years across all of Halkegenia for that matter. And all of a sudden, when Reconquista is about to overthrow the kingdom, this beast suddenly appears?

Folly. Every last bit of it.

Douglas was given orders to march his men of 5000 to join with two other units. They were to unite and overthrow the stronghold of Saxe-Gotha, which would grant Reconquista a grand advantage against the Nobles. However, in order to make it in time for the assault, Douglas had to march his men through the Westwood forest.

His men were intimidated, but their dedication to the Holy Movement was absolute. Their fears meant nothing so long as their faith was absolute and without a doubt their campaign was a most righteous one! Founder Brimir would protect—

**"Leave."**

The marching stopped. The demand they had heard was… No, it was inaccurate to say it was heard. Voices are heard. The buzzing of the wind is heard. But this? This soundless noise did not reach a single ear. It didn't need to. The command was registered within one's mind as though it were but a thought of their own.

"Continue onward!" commanded Douglas. He would have said there was nothing to fear or for his mean to not be intimidated, but then that would indicate there _was _something dwelling in the forest. He refused to give in to superstition. He was a man of rationality and would command his men with such. If he did not see it with his own eyes— if he did not _hear _it through his _ears— _it did not exist.

He spurred his horse to start pacing forward, and with it his men followed.

His eyes narrowed as the further he got into Westwood did the sound of marching feet start to decrease. A silencing spell, he mused. There wasn't a beast after all. Probably a good number of mages positioned within the village who were ordered by the king to kill anyone who came by. Perhaps that was where the atrocious rumor had come from.

Something flickered within his peripheral vision. When he turned his head towards it, there was nothing there. At least, nothing he could see. Through the gaps between the trees several mails away, he could have sworn there was something staring back at him. Silently, he whispered the incantation for a detection spell through the wand hidden in his sleeve. He did so as to not arise suspicion if there was something watching him as well as to not alarm his troops.

There was nothing there. Yet he could still feel _something _looking at him from that direction.

He shrugged it off as nerves before the battle and continued with his march.

The men were becoming agitated as they claimed to have seen something move within one direction. Yet no two men could pinpoint the same location. One said it came from north, the other would say south, and no one else within the 5000 could confirm if they were seeing things or not. And as they marched on, as their steps were quieting down to the point where they were hardly heard, the feeling of being watched had intensified throughout every direction.

The sound of a crunch of a fallen branch was louder than thunder. Douglas had failed to notice the silencing technique had affected his men so much to where their voices were no louder than a whisper. Yet they were the only ones affected.

Through the trees and as though walking out of a portal of mist, a figure stood before the might of the 31st Platoon. The figure was donned in pure black armor of strange design with a perfectly slick black mask hiding the face. There were two holsters with pistols, a dagger hung upside-down at the left shoulder, and… and…

It mattered not if Douglas could not identify anything else about this figure. He had seen enough as it is. The figure standing before him was nothing more than a _man._

"So this is the famed Black Beast of Albion!" Douglas laughed. Now that he knew it was not a monster but a person, a mage with competent illusion skills at that, but a person nonetheless. He knew how to deal with this.

The so-called Beast said nothing, merely stood there. Its faceless mask gave nothing away.

Douglas performed one more detection spell to see if the man standing before him was truly there or another product of his illusion magic. As it turned out, there was no magic within the vicinity. He was perplexed by this, as there was clearly a sort of silencing charm placed around them. But he dismissed it as he could at least confirm the armored being was real.

Douglas flicked his hand, springing the wand into his hand, and directed his wordless fireball spell towards the man. Though its power was greatly diminished, it was quick enough to catch him off-guard as well as pierce through that armor.

Except the spell sizzled out as soon as it touched the black surface. The armored man did not move in the slightest, almost as though it never noticed a spell had been cast.

Then, the blacked man raised a hand at eye-level and snapped his fingers.

Douglas felt the blood splatter over his back before the screams could be heard. In shock, he spun around on his horse to see what had happened.

His men weren't just dying. They were being _slaughtered._

He watched as heads and bodies exploded, throats were cut, backs and necks bent and twisted, with blood and organs spreading throughout the trail. He heard their muffled screams and watched their demise as though this were but a nightmare. Surely he must have been imagining things. 5000 of Reconquista's finest were just being _butchered _in the span of a few seconds. There wasn't a chance to put up a defense as the shock of watching the man right next to you die made them hesitate.

Two seconds, Douglas realized. Two short, miniscule, insignificant seconds was all it took to defeat his men. Their bodies making one giant heap of flesh and blood without so much as making a sound as they crumbled. It was so… unreal he could not come to terms with what he had just seen.

Especially since his men were cut down by _nothing. _No magic, no artillery— _nothing_!

The sound of crunching leafs made him spin back around. The Black Beast of Albion was approaching.

But when he spun around and was about to unleash every fire spell in his arsenal, there was nothing there.

The sound of crunching leafs had been transferred to _behind _him. He couldn't react fast enough after that.

Douglas screamed as pain erupted out of his right eye. No, his eye had been ripped right out of his socket! He gripped his wound as his wand fumbled out of his hand. The pain was so intense he could no longer keep his focus on the Black Beast.

And from realizing the Black Beast was still upon him, he forced himself to look at the abomination.

But alas, seeing his right eye in the hand of Albion's Black Beast was his last before the monster slashed its dagger across his throat.

*Scene*

Ten years ago, there was once a little girl who was not allowed to leave the archduke's castle. She never had any friends as the only person she could ever talk to was her beloved mother and father. But her mother was always sad as she too could never leave the castle or talk to others. And her father was rarely around as he had affairs with the royal court. The little girl tried her best to listen to the wishes of her mother, but she so deeply wished she had at least one friend.

And so, she made one up.

Her friend was one most noble! He was handsome, smart, courteous, kind, and passionate! Who would talk to her whenever she wanted and would listen to her endlessly! Who would play with her when her mother had grown tired! Who would eat her gross peas when she didn't want to! Who would take the blame when she did something wrong (although every time said 'friend' would leave her in the cold to teach her a lesson)! Who would tuck her into bed and tell her stories of grand adventures!

Oh, the stories he told! Every night her friend would tell her of adventures in a mystical land called Earth where the union of heroes of the Special Intelligence Tactical Hunters fought bravely against the evil monsters called Acolytes. She was told of how he was a special Shade knight who would be deployed to fight the Acolytes directly in their home territories so that everyone can sleep soundly safe. She was told about mystical weapons used to slay the monsters such as 7-12 Mjornir, K-1 Excalibur, CQS Balmung, and SMG Naegling. And she was told about the magical mounts of _flying machines _like the Fafnir or Ziza.

She decided to name him Artemis. Artemis James Philips. She didn't know why, but she felt like that name was perfect for her friend. Like it was always his to begin with. But… the story she created for him said he didn't like his name because it didn't feel like it was his. So instead, she decided to call him Big Brother from then on.

But, though she was happy, she wished her friend was real sometimes.

One day, when her father was home but busy entertaining guests, men with swords and spears broke through the front gates and charged through. Her father's men fought hard to defend the home, but they were overrun by too many mages accompanying the invaders. Her father too tried to protect his guests, her, and her mother, but was eventually captured.

The men set fire to the castle.

The girl was scared, but was told by her mother to be strong and so she did her best. But the men came bursting through the doors of her mother's chambers and quickly spotted them.

"It is an elf!" one of them said. "The king was right!"

Her mother was dragged by her hair. The girl tried to beg them to let her go, but in doing so was given a kick that knocked the wind out of her. The girl could do nothing as she tried to reach for her mother.

…Whose head was severed before her eyes.

The girl screamed as she was old enough to know the sight before her was something truly unspeakable. She didn't need to be a full-blooded elf to feel the sheer amount of _wrong _it was killing her mother. But she was too young to know how to react. Should she be sad? Should she be angry? In her shock, she could only scream.

She wished, so desperately with every fiber of her being, the hero she had made up would come to rescue her and save her mother.

It was unfortunate nothing heard her.

While it was true nothing had heard her, it also inaccurate. Nothing had accepted her wish. No god, no cosmic force, no spirit— nothing. And it was because nothing had heard her plea did nothing answer it. So, as she wished to nothing, nothing responded _kindly._

Nothing told Tiffania to run, and so she did. When the group of men had tried to reach for her, nothing told Tiffania to not look at them as nothing cut off their hands and slit their throats. Tiffania listened to nothing and kept running, never looking back nor questioning why the men were screaming or why such screaming was quickly silenced.

When another group of men caught sight of her down the hallway, nothing told Tiffania to keep running even if they blocked her path. She kept running. Nothing saved her when they tried to grab her. Nothing blew out their brains, snapped their necks, and crushed their chests. She was free to keep running. And when nothing told her to climb over the railing and to leap down from the third story, she did just that.

Nothing caught her.

Nothing also told her to stop and keep quiet. She obeyed but peered around the corner to see what the noise was from the main hall. She gasped, but put her hands in front of her mouth to not let the sound escape or nothing would be mad at her. Down towards the main hall were a few more men with weapons fighting with another as they shoved a green-haired girl but a few years older than her around.

Not too far away from them were a pair of similar green-haired adults— the guests her father was entertaining. And they were sprawled across the floor with a pool of blood spreading.

The men were arguing over who would have _fun _with the little girl.

Tiffania pleaded for somebody to save the girl.

Of course, nothing answered.

The girl was free from their clutches and the men were drowning in their own blood before anyone could have guessed what had happened. In fear because her capturers had _spontaneously _erupted in grotesque wounds, the green-haired Matilda ran for her life. But Tiffania intercepted her, grabbed on to her hand, and pulled her towards the direction where nothing was leading her.

In time, the two girls had been able to escape as they looked at the burning castle at the top of a distant hill. But nothing told them they weren't done and so the two kept running. They kept running across the fields until they could no longer run. Yet they kept moving. They walked on and on, never once sharing a word between another who were complete strangers. They kept on until they could no longer see the smoke and when night had finally fallen.

It was then the two girls huddled close to another beneath a tree and cried. They wailed for their lost parents until no more tears could be produced, but even then they continued. They cried until they could no longer breathe. Yet they continued. They cried until their fatigue had gotten the best of them and swept them into slumber.

Nothing watched over them.

For you see, it is and isn't accurate to say the wishes of Tiffania had been answered. Nothing had answered them. For it did not exist, could not exist, shall not exist, and will not exist. There truly was _nothing _there aiding Tiffania to begin with.

But, for the point of arguing, it is and isn't accurate to say that _something _had answered. This was not something registered with the Laws of the world. It did not exist. It could not progress anything. And it surely didn't have an identity. Yet, surely, _something _was watching over Tiffania.

An anomaly. Something that must not, cannot, and will not occur within the world because it is not written within the world's Laws. A glitch, in other words.

A byproduct of the world-ending, nonexistent realm referred to as the Abyss.

Through a series of sequences revolving the Third Law, the Law of Progress, in which states "All is Infinite", everything which exists will have infinite possibilities as it continues to exist. Through this Law, Tiffania could have gone through an endless variety of 'what-ifs' in but a single choice. She could have still chosen to create an imaginary friend and through the Third Law she could have had infinite choices in her 'friend's' character with just as infinite results to alter the course of her life.

However, there are those **rare **occurrences when one possibility is so abstract it cannot be registered properly by the other Laws. The Laws were made to never work should one be missing. If one fails, then they all do, and whatever has made them fail is removed. Yet, what Tiffania has accomplished had been able to negate the First Law— the Law of Being, which states "All Is".

Everything exists, so says the Law. Even nothing exists, if by only as a concept or perspective to explain the lack of something.

And yet **[NOTHING] **had been able to save her.

Because of this anomaly, Tiffania had unknowingly invited **[NOTHING] **into the realm of existence. And so, nothing will continue to watch over her, protecting her for the rest of her life. But little does she know it will bring about the end of everything.

Such was the nature of the Abyss.

*Scene*

Tiffania of Westwood, formerly of House Tudor, was hanging the laundry to dry. Naturally within the past ten years the once little girl had grown and matured into a lovely lady. And one would think due to such a horrific incident that traumatized her to this day she would end up mentally unstable. Yet, if anyone would overlook the fear of her being half-elf and get to know her, they would be baffled by her charm. Tiffania was truly a marvelous individual. She always smiled, she never let anything bother her, and she was always thankful for everything she had in her life.

Though Matilda had grown to be another exceptional lady, Matilda had grown to be bitter against the world. Matilda had chosen the path to struggle and earn her place in the world for herself rather than stay in a quiet life like Tiffania. The green-haired foster sister always sent money towards the Royal Bank within Saxe-Gotha, which would then be withdrawn by Big Brother to purchase what they needed, and so Matilda still showed her love for Tiffania.

Tiffania held back the feeling in her heart. She almost wished Matilda was back in Westwood like she used to be. But Matilda had said she found a good job with a good salary and was quite content with what she was doing, based on the letter she had sent. And so, Tiffania did not wish to see her sister while she was happy with her career.

Because Big Brother always heard her wishes and _always _made them come true. To the point where it was a curse. When they were still young, Big Brother had heard her wish about wanting to see her mother again. And Big Brother had made it come true.

But that _thing _he brought back wasn't her mother. It looked like her, talked like her, had all of her memories, wishes, feelings, quirks, habits, and even her paternal love for Tiffania. It was, by definition, her mother in every shape and form.

Yet everything screamed at her it was a **lie. **Something deep within her knew the woman Big Brother brought into the forest was **Fake. **

She never saw the woman again and she couldn't talk to Big Brother for a long time.

But it was all in the past. She knew Big Brother meant well. He was doing everything he could to make sure she was happy. He always brought her clothes, furnishings, flowers and seeds for her gardens, helped her around with the chores in the village, brought back sweets and gifts for the children when he went into town, and always made sure they were protected. On those rare occasions he would bring back a wandering child or two who were abandoned— some of which had come as far as Romalia or Germania.

She had no idea how he traveled around the world so frequently while returning to the village every few days. Getting from Westwood forest in Albion to the borders of Germania took several weeks even by the quickest method of transportation. Unless he had one of those flying machines from the stories he told her she couldn't fathom how he does it. She was curious, but Big Brother liked his secrets and so she made something of a game out of it. She would guess, never learning how he would do it as Big Brother rarely gave much of a reaction out of anything.

"Welcome back, Big Brother!" Tiffania smiled as she turned on her heels and ran towards her hero. At first she never knew when he would arrive and from what direction. And he was so quiet he would often startle her by popping in out of nowhere. But, as the years went by, she had learned to notice the small hints here and there that announced his presence.

She would have to say she started to notice these things the day after she pecked his cheek back when she was twelve…

"Hello Tiffi," he gave her his usual small smile. Big Brother was always kind, but he rarely showed emotion. Even amongst the children he kept the same emotionless expression. Only in front of Tiffania, and even more rarely Matilda, did he let his emotions show. If not so lightly.

He was dressed in a tunic, some tight leggings, and the worn down buckled boots crafted back in his home country. Protecting him from the cold was nothing more than a tattered black cloak which fell down to his shins. It came with a hood, which he removed when entering the village.

"I've brought back provisions to last you and the children for a week or two," he said while carrying a few sacks over his shoulders and under his arms. "Two turkeys, some rabbits, herbs, roots, berries— most of the usual. There was also a caravan of soldiers roaming outside the forest when I was returning. They supplied me with a few rations. Mostly dry and salted foods, but bountiful and nutritious. They also gave me some spices and broth."

Tiffania lit up. "Thank you Big Brother! There's still some food left from the last time, but I can prepare it for storage."

Already he was moving towards the cottage that made her home. "I will prepare the meats. We can use one of the turkeys for the meal tonight while the other and the rabbits can be preserved. The children might enjoy something other than dry food and stew."

"Ah, I can do it!" pleaded Tiffania.

He shook his head, "You have enough to work on. Laundry, tending to the children, tending to the gardens and harvest— didn't Lisa's skirt tear? And Jack hurt his knee when playing with the others. But he tried to hide it to not worry you. Still see to it he is doing well."

It wasn't a surprise at this point that Big Brother knew these things. Even away he kept an eye on the village. So Tiffania was mildly concerned when finding out one of the children was hurt but wouldn't let her know.

"Yes, Big Brother," Tiffania sighed in defeat. She never could argue against him. Then again, because of her kind nature, she couldn't argue to begin with. It was usually Big Brother or Sister Matilda who scolded the children. Tiffania usually pleaded with them to never wrong again. Yet, it was just as effective as a lecture from the other two. "B-But when I'm done at least let me help!"

"If that will make you happy," he said while resting some of the sacks down by the door. He turned towards her with his features turning serious. "I want you to tell all the children to stay away from the south-east trail for some time. There is a pack of wolves that had been forced to migrate here due to the war. However I believe they are rabid. I've managed to keep them away from the village but they won't leave the forest. Until I deal with them make sure no one leaves or wanders down that trail."

She knew he was lying. She always knew when he was before the words came out of his mouth. But Big Brother always meant for the best and never did anything without a good reason. Whenever she wished he would tell her, he would respond with something vague and the usual 'to protect you'. There was one time when she was fourteen and had gone looking for what he had deemed dangerous. She never found the supposed bear at that time as she had been caught by Big Brother.

He had been _very _upset.

"I will keep the children away," was how she responded. She did not like to lie and so would tell the children it was just dangerous. But it didn't help her feel like she was deceiving them and darkened her mood.

In response, Big Brother combed his fingers through her hair in the same way he had done for the past ten years.

"W-Will you be staying for supper?" she asked with some hope. It would be nice to have him around and the children would be excited to know he had returned, if not for just a short while.

"If it will make you happy," he nodded while removing his hand. Turning away, he picked up the sacks and went inside the cottage to prepare his work.

*Scene*

"P-P-Please stay the night!" pleaded Tiffania.

She had been able to find where he had wandered off as soon as they were done tucking the children into bed. He always did this. He was only around for short instances and then vanished without a trace. Today may have been one of his longer visits but it was no exception to his usual habit. Only from knowing him for so long was she able to find him at this dark hour as he was silently returning to the forest.

"There is much I need to do," he turned around only slightly just to be able to see her within his peripheral vision. "You will be fine while I am away."

"But…" Tiffania was saddened. She knew he had things to do in order to take care of the village just like how Matilda did. It was for the good of her and the children. But, she needed something _more _than living nourishments and pleasantries.

She needed companionship. She needed her _friend._

"Big Brother… I wish you would stay…"

As usual, he gave no reaction she could read. He was a blank individual as still as a statue. She could have been talking to a statue if she knew any better.

"…Only until you fall asleep," he relented.

It was all she could ask for. Her smile may have lit up the world.

And so they sat by the fire inside the cozy little cottage, drinking tea he had brought not too long ago, and chatting about little things. Tiffania talked about everything that had occurred within the village since he last visited— she had no doubts he knew everything anyways but was willing to listen. He, in turn, talked about his travels within the land of Tristain. He had taken an interest lately in the prestigious Magic Academy, especially within the past few weeks when he found out Matilda had been working there as the secretary. Tiffania was so happy her foster sister had found such a wonderful job.

He promised her he would keep an eye on her when he could and make sure they were treating her right. Tiffania told him he should let Matilda live her life rather than being the usual protective older brother he always was. He, in response, assured he would only watch and step in if, and only if, there was an emergency.

"Can you tell me a story? Like you used to? I haven't heard one in so long…" Tiffania said, almost in desperation, when she slid into bed. She wanted him to stay just a little longer.

"Tiffi, you're sixteen," he said bluntly.

She pouted _like _a sixteen-year-old. Sighing, he made himself a little more comfortable in the chair beside her bed.

"After the Great War against the Acolytes, there was a time of peace as the world began anew," he picked up from where he left off. "The world was united, if only for a short while, and humanity could resume its existence. In time, they returned from being one civilization and into several separate countries. As usual, because of their indifferences, war returned to the world as humanity fought against their former brethren.

"The world was falling apart as weapons once used to defeat the superhuman monstrosities that were the Acolytes were turned against their selves. Death was everywhere as the world was plunged once more in an era of darkness. And in its desperation to stay alive, the world itself developed a system to protect itself.

"Thus, the Predators were created. They were the world's defense against anything that will threaten the world as well as its inhabitants. They could not be killed by anything other than an otherworldly threat or by another Predator. They were the ultimate murderers— none may survive once a Predator had its sights locked on a target.

"But even Predators were susceptible to time and the advancements of humanity. Once, the mighty Behemoth and Leviathan— ultimate beings of vice and virtue— could no longer be ranked as Predators as humanity had developed warfare to defeat them. Even the once forest deity known as the Black Death, which successfully killed a third of a continent's population, had been removed thanks to the advancement of medicine in which cured and prevented its miasma. And in time, the world needed something new to defend itself against threats.

"Humanity had advanced so far that the current Predators are all human. First Predator, the eldest of the generation, is Archibald Lolifor— a cunning man who controls the entire world's economy and through it the mundane military. Without him, the human race will plummet back to its Stone Age.

"Second Predator, recognized by the world itself as the Dragon Slayer, is a magician by the name of Ludwig von Siegfried; perhaps a descendant of the legendary dragon-slaying hero or perhaps an incarnation of the hero himself. He commands absolute order among the magician's community and protects the British Isles from invaders. His magic may crush armies and bring down fortresses with but a flick of his finger. No mage can stand before him in a duel.

"Third Predator, recognized by the world itself as the Divine Beast, is a priestess by the alias Serene of Finland. None know of her true name. She is a moderately ranking Exorcist in official documents but recognized by the church as a living saint. She possesses the gift in which transfers both vice and virtue from anyone or anything onto whichever she so desires. By doing so, you might say she has the miracle to heal any sick or wounded. But at the same time, she may punish the wicked by unleashing those vices onto her targets.

"Fourth Predator, recognized by the world itself as the Vampire, is… an Acolyte who remains within the world and refuses to fade. He is a twisted soul who takes delight in the most atrocious and sickening of things. He bears the affinity of Blood and Darkness. I know not what makes him a Predator. Perhaps it is because he is considered a deathless but I don't know how he can considered one of the world's greatest killers. He is also not affiliated to one country and wanders the world in his perverse merriment.

"Sixth Predator is a young man by the name of Chase Lance Rolan. He was once an Acolyte who had transformed into a true man in time. Though he still retains his witchery of the Acolytes with his affinity of Flame and Frost. Nevertheless, he is a formidable mercenary who only takes jobs that will benefit the advancement of humanity. He is intolerant of political manipulations and considered to be the heroic type with the way he dives into minefields to save the girl. Always a girl. His affiliation is loyal only to those beings persecuted by humanity. I've no doubt he would fight the world for your sake, Tiffi.

"And Seventh Predator, recognized by the world as the Valkyrie, is a young maiden revered as the Cardinal Saber. In truth, she is a little girl no older than ten who was granted an artefact of unfathomable power by a divine being beyond the comprehension of humanity. For what she lacks in experience, she makes up for in raw destructive power. I believe if she were properly trained the other Predators would be removed from the world's roster as she surpasses them. Still, her heart is pure and she relies on her seniors for guidance. As she is still young, she holds no affiliation towards any country but will defend her family no matter the cost."

As Tiffania was slowly drifting into sleep, she realized something. "What about Fifth?"

For a moment, Big Brother didn't respond. He was quiet, more than usual. This type of silence was the kind one would be able to hear. It was enough to keep Tiffania awake.

"There is no Fifth Predator, and yet there is," he responded in time. "Artemis James Philips, a former Shade operative of the Tactical Hunters who still lingers on in the new world. He is not recognized by the world as a Predator, yet contains all the perks of being one. And within the world's roster there is a gap between the Fourth and Sixth. I believe because of his _Radiance of the Sun_ concealing his existence from the world, the world knows he is worthy but cannot find him. And so, the world leaves a space for him should he ever reveal himself.

"Artemis fights for humanity itself and hunts abominations that threaten its existence, such as the Acolytes. But… currently… he is away from home, summoned by a Void mage as the Lífþrasir."

"Mmm…" Tiffania was dozing off but tried her best to listen. "Artemis… What a nice name he has… He sounds like you… Big Brother… with the… way you… dissa…pear…"

And so, Tiffania fell asleep. Were she conscious she would see her Big Brother clearing the hair out of her face and pulling the sheets over her chest much like how he used to when she was much younger. And after throwing two more logs into the fire to keep her warm throughout the night, he existed the cottage without having to open the door or the windows. He simply vanished.

She did wonder, between her dream of going with him in his travels and eating the biggest apple pie known to mankind, why he hadn't aged once. He was still the young man she had imagined on that one misty morning. At this rate she'll grow older than him!

She never did question how he existed in the first place. Perhaps she simply couldn't.

*Scene*

"You expect me to believe this?" Oliver Cromwell, the soon-to-be Emperor of Albion, threw the reports across his desk in disgust. He had read it a dozen times as though the script would magically change with every glance, but to no avail. It was ridiculous. A platoon of 5000 just gone. Gone! They had been reported to have left one camp and make way for Saxe-Gotha but had never made their destination. Because of their absence, the remaining Nobility had been able to fight their damnest like the devils that they are. Saxe-Gotha had fallen to Reconquista's control, but not without heavy costs. If the 31st had been there, things would have been different.

Instead, according to the report made by the sole survivor, the 31st had been wiped out by a fictitious _monster._

"I would most certainly hope so, Lord Cromwell," replied said sole survivor, Lt. Douglas Spencer. _Former _lieutenant. His wounds were dressed, his clothes cleaned, and he stood erect in the leader of the Holy Movement. "However, the Black Beast isn't an animal like the stories say. Though he is a monster in his own right, the Black Beast is but one man."

"And you're telling me this one _man _single-handedly killed a whole platoon?" sneered Cromwell. "Perhaps if you were given Commoners I might have believed the Heavy Wind came out of retirement. But there were lesser Nobles and other mages stationed under your command. Thirty, if I recall. And according to your report, you expect me to believe this… _Black Beast _killed them all before a single man could put up a fight?"

"It is how you say, Sir," Douglas nodded but with a bead of sweat falling down his temple. "But, perhaps this isn't a mage like you think. Only the Heavy Wind could perform such a task, but not instantly like how he did. I believe this is the work of an elf."

Cromwell raised a brow and gestured for the man to continue with his logic.

"I've pondered on this since I've managed to escape. The story of the Black Beast started to arrive when men working for the king reported a monster using the Westwood Village as its den, nearly ten years ago. Normally, it would be within the responsibility of the lord ruling over Westwood such as the former head of House Saxe-Gotha. However, the king _personally _sent hunters, which eventually became troops and more powerful Nobles, and then eventually one of the princes. There was also a rumor the Black Beast defeated a whole invasion force before they could burn the forest to the ground, but there was no evidence to prove any of these things.

"But why did the king personally send men? I believe it is from an action he ordered ten years ago. There was a rumor around that time where the Lord Archduke had an elven mistress, and so the king ordered the death of his brother. I know not if the rumors were true, but there may be a possibility this Black Beast could be the bastard child or perhaps a cohort of the elven mistress. The timing seems appropriate."

Cromwell frowned as the man went with his explanation. He sat back in his chair and groaned, "I do not need assumptions; I need facts. Your theory is… compelling, but that's all it is: a theory."

"Oh, there may be some truth in it, Cromwell," Sheffield, the priest's secretary from Galia, stepped forward from where she was observing from the corner of the office. "My master had come to the same assumption. There is, without a doubt, _something _lurking within those trees. I believe I will be looking into this myself."

Cromwell did his best to keep his face straight. If his sponsors from Galia were so damn interested in this, then who was he to say anything? Besides, on the off chance there _was _a monster or elf inside Westwood, then there was a high chance Sheffield would be killed by mentioned abomination. He could then blame it on the creature and Sheffield's own actions in order to keep his funding from his mysterious benefactor.

"My lady," Douglas spoke out of term as he panicked, "you mustn't! If this… _thing _finds you there would be no chance for your survival! I but survived because it was distracted with my men! This is suicide if you go!"

Sheffield gave a light giggle as her lips curled into a knowing smile. "Oh? How kind of you to worry about me. But there is no need. I have my ways of sneaking about unnoticed."

As she said those words, her fingers moved the bangs out of her eyes. Douglas' eyes snapped towards the markings etched onto her forehead. It was but an instant, yet it was long enough for the man to recognize the series of runes and what they meant.

Douglas' persona changed entirely. He snarled, "You will do no such thing, _Myozunitonirun_."

Cromwell's brows twitched. Not only because _First-Private _Spencer's character had changed, but because he had recognized the title the Noble had spat at Sheffield with such distaste. As a priest of the Brimiric faith, Cromwell knew well what the _Mind of God _was. His eyes moved over to Sheffield, who was glaring at the officer through narrowed eyes of suspicion.

Cromwell's eyes widened as he saw the markings on her forehead light up as one of the earrings she wore began to glow. Her eyes now glared daggers at Spencer.

But Douglas did not move. He remained as stoic as a statue.

"Stay out of _my _forest," Douglas hissed further. "I've no reason to kill you or Joseph."

Joseph? Cromwell wondered. Surely he couldn't be talking about _King _Joseph of Galia, could he? No, this was but the ramblings of a mad man. He needed to call the guards before this escalated any further.

"…Am I assuming I am speaking to the Black Beast himself?" Sheffield curled her lips into a mischievous smile. The glowing of magic within her earring and on the runes at her brow died down.

Douglas did not speak. His face was blank of any emotion as though all life was gone from him. He only continued to stare at Sheffield.

"Interesting," mused the woman as her smile grew further. "I don't know how you're able to hide your presence from my artefact, but it matters not. You almost made me believe this was still… what was his name, Cromwell? Douglas Antione Spencer? Regardless, I do not take threats to my master lightly. I think I will pay you a visit."

Again, Douglas said nothing and gave nothing.

However, before either of the two could blink, Douglas evaporated into black mist and vanished.

*Scene*

The Lífþrasir had been keeping tracks of the Myozunitonirun ever since she said she would 'visit' him via the Dawn Blade [Douglas Spencer]. Many of the former Shade's Dusk Blades watched her continuously without her knowing as they stayed within the Work of _Radiance of the Sun_. They observed everything she did, every conversation she held— every blinking moment of her life since that day had been watched without a moment of isolation.

He nearly cursed up a storm when she used her Void gift as well as some magic necklace to _teleport _out of his surveillance. He may have hundreds of Dusk Blades stationed all across Halkegenia and a few still traveling through the Rub'al Khali, but they couldn't be _everywhere. _Until one of them spotted her, he wouldn't know from which way she was approaching.

Thankfully, she was foolish enough to appear at the border of the forest. She could have teleported to the direct center of the forest, where the village resided. But, perhaps through her arrogance, Sheffield thought to challenge him directly.

**"Leave," **he gave his one warning as he usually did for any 'visitor' through a Dusk Blade lurking in the trees and hidden courtesy of _Radiance of the Sun._

Sheffield ignored his warning and continued to stroll through. He suspected this much. So, he lowered the potency of the cloaking Work just enough for his Dusk blades to appear as phantasmal flickers. When he ordered them to reposition themselves to surround her, and as they moved accordingly, most individuals would begin to question whether they had seen something or not. It was a second part of his trick to intimidate the unwelcomed into leaving. Alas, it was only a method to repel the timid.

Sheffield's smile grew as though she knew what he was trying to do. She ignored it and continued to approach.

However, both attempts of intimidation had a large advantage that went unnoticed. Especially to the ignorant— or _stupid, _as he preferred to call them. When one believes another is trying so hard to scare another, it is believed the latter individual is scared themselves and can't defend themselves properly. All bark and no bite, one might say. Therefore, it was only reasonable to think there was nothing to fear in the first place.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Sheffield was only fooling herself into a sense of superiority.

At the adequate distance he deemed 'not too close to the village' yet 'too far to successfully flee', he activated the acoustic suppression devices he had placed all over the forest. He did not want the sound of potential gunfire and what magic Sheffield brought with her to reach the village. And as she stepped close enough, he lowered his own cloak of _Radiance of the Sun _to the lowest possible setting to appear before her. She could not see him, but she could not identify him nor will be able to recall the events that will take place. She will only be able to _know _she met with him but it would be impossible for her to recall anything.

That is, if he decided to let her live.

"So this is the famed Black Beast of Albion," the Myozunitonirun gave an amused smile one would towards something she found _adorable._

It was the same words and reaction he had received _hundreds _of times over the years. He never had any diversity. It was like all of Albion had the same brainwave— not too far off with this Brimiric crap being preached. Perhaps in his growing state of _boredom _he had mildly hoped Sheffield would have had something different to offer. Unfortunately, as he suspected, she was just another sheep.

"Strange, I am not familiar with your style of armor," her lips thinned in a mocking frown. "It is not elven. Where did you come from?"

Seeing as how he wasn't going to give her any reaction, Sheffield's eyes wandered towards the path he was blocking. "I wonder what could be so important for you to be protecting? What lays at the center of the forest, Black Beast?"

Again, no response.

Her lips dropped to an expression of annoyance. "Fine. I'll just have to find out for myself."

The runes on her brow glowed as she raised a hand. A ruby ring began to shine as though its core held a roaring fire.

Behind his HUD helm, the Lífþrasir's eyes narrowed.

Fire at the rank of Square magic flared out of the ring and with more than enough force to blow out the first few layers of a fortress wall. Like the breath of fifty firedrakes at once, it surged through the air and enveloped him. Even if he was a Wind mage with a high-ranking proficiency in the Acceleration spell, the fire was too fast and too large to dodge in time.

Instead, he switched places with one of the Dusk Blades and ordered more to appear around the position to form a human wall. Their black armor resisted the majority of the blast and kept the surge from traveling deeper into the forest. However, as it was a… different fire than the sort mages channel through their wands, nothing except the fire's intended target was burnt. The blast was enough to kill a decent mage with proper barriers, thus did his Dusk Blades fade into black mist.

Only for him to recall them into his services a split second after. He repositioned them to their original hiding places except for the one he switched locations with.

Because that one had been standing behind Sheffield the whole time— to which he now was.

Sheffield had suspected something was amiss as her fire spell had struck something large rather than the intended single unit. Not only that, but there weren't any remains when she deactivated the Ring of the Dragon King. It was as if he had disappeared…

Something was pressed against the back of her head. She didn't mistake the click of a flintlock's hammer being pulled.

With her necklace, she teleported away. But the Lífþrasir's Dusk Blades had immediately spotted where she reappeared. Without hesitation, he switched places with the nearest one in pursuit.

He didn't want to waste his precious and _highly _valuable ammunition. She wasn't that big of a threat and she was _human._ A flintlock from this world will suffice. As he appeared beside her before she could gather her senses from the distortion of teleportation, he fired it into her knee.

She screamed in pain, anger, and shock as the acoustic suppressors muffled her voice. Looking up, her eyes widened as he had been able to follow her no matter the great distance she crossed. As he dismissed the flintlock and withdrew a new one from the hands of a distant Dusk Blade, her runes glowed once more as her necklace activated.

Except he stomped on her wound— both her runes and artefact dimmed in her pain. She wouldn't be going anywhere if she couldn't focus on her Void ability.

"Damn you _Beast," _she snarled through gritted teeth.

Cocking the pistol and pointing it down towards her head, he kept his foot on her knee no matter how hard she tried to pry it off. Whenever her runes glowed in the slightest, he dug his heel in harder.

"Stay out of my forest," he said. "I've no reason to kill you or Joseph… yet," he decided to add at least _something _for her to think about. He knew she would try this all again if he left her alone with nothing.

He had a use for them. No matter who won the war, be they the Royalist or Reconquista, Tiffania would not be safe. Seeing as Tiffania was one of the four Void mages, he needed the other three if she had a slim of a chance in surviving in this sickening world. As a half-elf, she was something to be killed at first sight by humanity and to be shunned by the elves. But just having them in her life wouldn't be enough. He needed the _world _to change. And it would have to start with its hierarchy.

Perhaps it was convenience the two Void mages he found were people of high power. That Pope of Romalia and the King of Galia. It was unfortunate neither the Queen nor Princess of Tristain were Void mages. And it was such a hassle trying to determine if any of the ruling families in Germania were mages to begin with. Regardless, he needed to find the last Void mage and, somehow, bring that person to power.

And to rule under _his _conditions.

He wouldn't let Sheffield go so easily. He removed all the jewelry, seeing as they were all potentially magic instruments one way or another. Taking it a step further, perhaps out of paranoia mixed in with his experience in his previous life, he decided for the best to disrobe her of _everything. _Sheffield spat at him and cursed everything she could think of, but could not so much as scratch him.

Perhaps in kindness from being around Tiffania for so long— or perhaps out of _pity— _he dressed her wound and gave him his tattered cloak. He even found her a large branch for her to use as a walking stick.

"Leave," was the last thing he said before setting _Radiance of the Sun _to its normal feature. He was nothing more than a ghost at this level. He could cut off her hand and she wouldn't be able to detect it until she needed to use it for something.

"I will remember this, _Beast,_" she snarled in such rage but complied, using most of her right leg as she wobbled on the stick. Barefooted.

He made sure to have several of his Dusk Blades follow her.

But as was about to switch locations with the Dusk Blade squatting in his safehouse miles away from Westwood to store away the magic artefacts, one of the Dusk Blades watching over Tristain's Academy of Magic caught sight of something that would interest him. Something he would have never expected to see here in all places.

_"My name is Artemis James Philips, and I am a King!"_


End file.
